Chris Van Hollen: “Today's legislation would amend the Investment Advisors Act of 1940 to generally exempt private equity fund investment…”

“Today's legislation would amend the Investment Advisors Act of 1940 to generally exempt private equity fund investment advisors from its registration and reporting requirements, subject to certain conditions. Proponents of this legislation argue that private equity funds were not the source of systemic risk during the most recent financial crisis and therefore that their investment advisors should not be subject to registration and reporting requirements under current law. While private equity funds can play an important role in capital formation, and I would agree that private equity funds were not the principal source of systemic risk during the last financial crisis, that does not mean it would be impossible for private equity firms to become a source of systemic risk at some point in the future. Moreover, as Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Mary Jo White has pointed out, registration and reporting requirements are not used solely for systemic risk prevention. Just as importantly, they are also used for investor protection. In that regard, it is worth noting that the SEC has brought enforcement actions against unscrupulous private equity funds involving unlawful pay to play schemes, insider trading, conflicts of interest, valuation issues and misappropriation of assets.…”