SEC Proposes Extensive Reporting for Hedge and Private Equity Funds
The SEC has proposed a new rule that will require hedge
and private equity fund managers to report significant information concerning
the funds they manage. The biggest
burden will fall on private fund managers, which are defined as those advisers
with more than $1 Billion in AUM. Such
advisers would be required to complete quarterly reporting on new Form PF. The Form would require information about
asset class, concentration, turnover, leverage, and liquidity. Smaller fund advisers (i.e. less than $1
Billion in AUM) would be subject to annual reporting about leverage,
concentration, performance, strategy, counterparty risk, and trading. The SEC indicates that the information,
intended for use by the new Financial Stability Oversight Council, will be kept
confidential.
OUR TAKE: This new “registration lite” regime will
require significant changes for hedge and private equity fund managers. We expect that the new Form will impose a
degree of reporting and transparency currently unknown to the private fund
world. We also believe that the
reporting is a first step toward some form of formal registration, particularly
for larger funds.