New York City houses one of the financial epicenters of the world so many may find it surprising that investment advisers with their principal office and place of business in New York are not subject to an examination by the New York Investor Protection Bureau. The New York Investor Protection Bureau is charged with enforcing the New York State securities laws and requires investment advisers to register with the New York Attorney General’s Office. Because the New York Investor Protection Bureau does not conduct examinations of investment advisers with a principal office and place of business who are registered with the New York Attorney General’s Office, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) will handle the registration and examination of mid-sized investment advisers (investment advisers with between $25 million and $100 million of assets under management) with a principal office or place of business in New York.
Category Archives: Investment Advisor Registration
Kansas and Louisiana Securities Regulators Require Submission of Written Supervisory Procedures When Registering as an Investment Adviser
August 27, 2012
A firm that wants to register as an investment adviser must at a minimum prepare and file the Form ADV through the Investment Adviser Registration Depository (“IARD”) system. When registering as an investment adviser with a state securities regulator, an investment adviser is typically required to submit additional documentation directly to the state securities regulator. An investment adviser applicant seeking registration with a state securities regulator should review the investment adviser registration requirements for each particular state where the investment adviser applicant is required to register since the requirements typically vary from state to state.
Certain State Securities Regulators Require Branch Registration for Investment Advisers
August 24, 2012
Fifteen states require investment advisers to register their branch offices with the state securities regulator. Currently, the Alabama Securities Commission, the Arkansas Securities Department, the Connecticut Department of Banking, Securities and Business Investments Division, Florida’s Office of Financial Regulation , Hawaii’s Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Idaho’s Department of Finance, the Illinois Securities Department, Maine’s Office of Securities, the New Hampshire Bureau of Securities, the New Mexico Securities Division, the Ohio Department of Commerce, the Texas State Securities Board, Vermont’s Department of Financial Regulation, the West Virginia Securities Commission, and Wisconsin’s Department of Financial Institutions require investment adviser branch offices to register with state securities regulators. Some of these 15 state securities regulators require an investment adviser branch office registration fee while other states only require registration of each investment adviser branch located in their state. For state securities regulators that do charge branch office registration fees, the charges range from $20 (by the Illinois Securities Department) to $300 (by the New Mexico Securities Division). For further information on the investment adviser registration requirements in each state, refer to the North American Securities Administrators Association (“NASAA”) website.
Mid-sized investment adviser firms that did not register with one or more state securities regulators by the June 28, 2012, deadline are in danger of being de-registered by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as early as this week. However, the first wave of terminations may not occur until September according to a staff member from the SEC who spoke with one of our Senior Compliance Consultants earlier this year. Investment advisers that did not file an amendment to Form ADV Part 1 confirming their registration status by the March 31, 2012, deadline and/or have not filed a state registration application, if no longer SEC eligible; face the highest risk for untimely termination.
Make Sure You Properly Renew Your Investment Adviser Firm and Representative Registrations
November 09, 2011
Investment adviser firms and investment adviser representatives must maintain active registrations and/or notice filing statuses with applicable jurisdictions/states. Investment advisers should be aware that renewing registrations includes paying all applicable renewal fees by December 12, 2011. Unless properly renewed, all investment adviser firm and representative registrations will expire on December 31st of each calendar year. Failure to maintain active registration or failing to properly renew registration may be detrimental to an investment advisor firm. Investment adviser firms and investment adviser representative that are not properly renewed may become ineligible to conduct business affected jurisdictions effective January 1, 2012. Additionally, certain regulators may assess fines against those firms or representatives that fail to properly renew.
Although the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and most state securities regulators are already requiring the use of the new Form ADV Part 2 as part the application process for new investment advisors, the Colorado Division of Securities recently released a public notice stating that as of April 1, 2011 all new investment adviser applications must include the new narrative version of Form ADV Part 2.
Today, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) passed long-proposed changes to the disclosure statements that federally registered investment advisers provide regulators and clients. Originally, the SEC proposed changes to Form ADV Part 2 in 2000. That proposal was never adopted, but a second proposal was issued in 2008 and finally passed today.
House Financial Services Committee Votes to Raise Assets Under Management for SEC Registration as Investment Adviser from $25 Million to $100 Million
October 29, 2009
Investment News is reporting that the Financial Services Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives passed today an amendment to the Investor Protection Act, H.R. 3817, whereby the general assets under management requirement to register with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) as an investment adviser would increase from $25 million to $100 million.
Private Investment Advisers Registration Act is Passed by House Committee on Financial Services
October 28, 2009
The Financial Services Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 3818, the Private Fund Investment Advisers Registration Act, which requires advisers to private funds to register with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”).
NASAA President Appears on Fox News as an Advocate of Raising the AUM Requirement for SEC Registration as an Investment Adviser
October 05, 2009
Denise Voigt, the Texas Securities Commissioner and incoming President of the North American Securities Administrators Association (“NASAA”), recently appeared on Fox News to discuss why state securities regulators have the experience and will to take on more regulatory authority with respect to registered investment advisers.
