Private Equity

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has decided to increase regulation of the private equity industry, which has previously faced less regulatory scrutiny than other industries such as banking and hedge funds. At the end of 2012, the SEC sent several letters to private equity funds as “informal inquiries.” It is unclear which firms actually received the letters. The SEC maintains that its actions are not a result of suspecting any particular wrongdoing by specific firms, and it claims that its goal is to investigate possible violations of securities laws.

In the letter, the SEC requested information from private equity firms in relation to 12 broad areas including:

Financial statements;
Support for valuations of fund assets;
Documents setting forth a value of any assets owned by a fund over the past three years; and
Information on agreements between the firms and those that value fund assets.

The SEC is placing greater emphasis on the valuation of private equity firms since the firms are not publically traded and there is no listing price on the stock market. As a result, there is no easily ascertainable price for private companies. This allows for subjective judgments to play a large role in valuation. Private equity managers use varying, complex methodologies to value their holdings, which are often private companies bought using debt.
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On October 26, 2011, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced the adoption of Form PF, which stands for “Private Fund.” Required by the Dodd Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the adoption of the form seeks to require reporting by larger hedge fund and venture capital private advisers in an effort to assess systemic risks.

The minimum amount of assets under management before the reporting requirement is triggered is $150 million, meaning that smaller private fund advisers are not required to file Form PF at all. Once this threshold is reached, however, there is a tiered reporting requirement base on the level of assets under management within different categories as established by the form. The exclusion for the smaller advisers is justified because their funds have a minimal impact on a broad based systemic risk analysis, according to a statement by SEC Chairman Mary Shapiro delivered in connection with the adoption of the form.
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Articles Tagged with Private Equity

SEC Increases Examination of Private Equity Industry

Private Fund Reporting Form Approved