Investment Adviser Compliance: Latest Developments, Changes Likely Coming Under the New Trump Administration
Private Fund Adviser Rules, Marketing and Custody Rules, ESG Requirements, SEC Examination and Enforcement Priorities
Course Details
- smart_display Format
On-Demand
- signal_cellular_alt Difficulty Level
Intermediate
- work Practice Area
Banking and Finance
- event Date
Tuesday, February 11, 2025
- schedule Time
1:00 p.m. ET./10:00 a.m. PT
- timer Program Length
90 minutes
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This 90-minute webinar is eligible in most states for 1.5 CLE credits.
This CLE course will examine the current regulatory and enforcement landscape for registered investment advisers (RIAs) and changes likely in store under the second Trump administration. The panel will discuss the vacation of the SEC's Private Fund Adviser Rules by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, the latest regulatory and enforcement developments relating to the Marketing and Safeguarding Rules, and reporting requirements for advisers of ESG-focused funds. The panel will also discuss issues of particular concern for exempt reporting advisers.
Mr. Aderton’s practice focuses on regulatory enforcement matters and white collar defense. He has particular experience in regulatory inquiries and litigation involving the asset management industry, including matters involving private equity funds, hedge funds, venture capital funds, mutual funds, ETFs, business development companies, and separately managed accounts. In addition to representing clients in connection with SEC and other government examinations, investigations, and litigations, Mr. Aderton provides compliance counseling to asset managers.
Ms. Choe is a partner in Willkie’s Asset Management Group. She advises a wide range of pooled investment vehicles, including mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), private funds (hedge funds, private equity funds and venture capital funds) and their sponsors and investment managers. Ms. Choe has in-depth knowledge of the various securities and other laws applicable to pooled vehicles and regularly counsels investment advisers and family offices on a variety of SEC regulatory filings and compliance matters.
Under the Biden administration, RIAs were subject to increased SEC scrutiny, regulation, and compliance reporting obligations. The SEC under a second Trump administration will likely lean towards less regulation, a shift in enforcement priorities, and possibly more interpretive guidance rather than regulation by enforcement.
On June 5, 2024, the Fifth Circuit in Nat'l Assoc. of Private Fund Mgrs. v. SEC vacated the Private Fund Adviser Rules adopted by the SEC in August 2023. The rules made significant changes to the business, operations, and practices of private fund advisers and the ruling was considered a big win for the private funds industry. It is unlikely that the SEC under the Trump administration will seek to reinstate these rules in any significant way.
The SEC's Marketing Rule, enacted in late 2020, significantly impacted RIAs' marketing materials and other investor communications, performance calculations, and related disclosures, requiring RIAs to revise their compliance policies and procedures and recordkeeping practices. Due to the industry's views and the increased burdens to RIAs, it is likely that the new Republican-led SEC will explore deregulation in this area.
Other SEC changes likely to occur under the new administration include: less dramatic overhaul of the Safeguarding Rule and instead, new proposed rules to address unresolved issues pertaining to how RIAs hold client assets; ESG rulemaking and public company disclosures will likely be rewritten, repealed, or amended; and continued implementation of anti-money laundering requirements for RIAs.
Listen as our authoritative panel discusses the latest developments in investment adviser compliance and reporting.
- Current regulatory framework around RIAs and exempt reporting advisers
- Future of the now vacated private fund adviser rules
- Status of the Marketing Rule
- Safeguarding Rule and the future of the SEC's proposed rules to overhaul the Custody Rule
- Anti-money laundering requirements for RIAs
- ESG rulemaking and reporting under the new administration
- SEC examination and enforcement priorities under a second Trump administration
- Practitioner takeaways
The panel will review these and other key issues:
- Where is the SEC expected to focus its inspection of RIAs and exempt reporting advisers under the second Trump administration?
- What are trends to watch in SEC enforcement related to investment advisers?
- What are the possible next steps for the SEC regarding the now vacated private fund adviser rules?
- What changes are likely to the Marketing Rule and Safeguarding Rule in the near term?
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