Written by: Jessica Brown
On July 25, 2013, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (“SEC”) Division of Investment Management released its first annual report to Congress, as required by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (“Dodd-Frank”), regarding how it used private fund data collected from investment advisers on Form PF. Dodd-Frank gave the SEC authority to require registered investment advisers to file reports and maintain records regarding the funds they advise. The SEC adopted Form PF in 2011 as the mechanism through which registered advisers must provide this information to the SEC.
Although it acknowledges that the intent of the Dodd-Frank provision was to provide data for the Financial Stability Oversight Council (“FSOC”) to assess systemic risk, the SEC is using the data to support its own regulatory programs as well.
In this first report to Congress, the SEC indicated that is has been focused on the Form PF electronic filing system, resolving technical issues with security and data collection, guiding Form PF filers through the new form and system, establishing protocols for internal access and protection of data, and providing the FSOC with access to the data. Various divisions of the SEC have begun to use the Form PF data to assist with monitoring, identifying and examining investment advisers and private funds. The SEC also plans to provide non-proprietary Form PF data about large hedge funds to the International Organization of Securities Commission for its report on the global hedge fund market.