Investment Advisers Modernization Act of 2016

Summary: Investment Advisers Modernization Act of 2016 This bill directs the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to amend specified regulations for investment advisers as they apply to private equity firms and private investment funds. (Sec. 2) The bill revises the disclaimer that, in the case of an investment adviser that is a partnership, an assignment shall not be deemed to result from the death, withdrawal, sale or transfer of minority interests to apply the disclaimer also to minority members, shareholders, for other equity owners of the investment adviser. Qualified clients of an investment adviser may consent to an assignment of the investment adviser contract at the time they enter into an advisory contract. The Investment Advisers Act of 1940 is amended to repeal the requirement that advisers organized as partnerships notify the other party to an investment adviser contract every time there is a change in the composition of the partnership. The SEC shall waive the application of specified antifraud prohibitions to advisers who advertise exclusively to:  qualified clients, determined as of the time of the publication, circulation, or distribution of the advertisement rather than immediately before or after entering into the investment advisory contract; knowledgeable employees of any private fund to which the investment adviser acts as an investment adviser; qualified purchasers; or  accredited investors (determined as if the investment adviser were the securities issuer and the time of the publication, circulation, or distribution of the advertisement were the sale of such securities).  (Sec. 3) The SEC must amend a certain regulation regarding Form PF which registered investment advisers with at least $150 million in private funds assets under management must file with the SEC to report information about the private funds that they manage. This amendment shall state that an investment adviser to a private fund is not required to report any information beyond that which is required by sections 1a and 1b of Form PF unless it is a large hedge fund adviser or a large liquidity fund adviser. The SEC shall also amend the regulation requiring that client funds and securities of which an investment adviser has custody are verified by actual examination periodically by an independent public accountant. The SEC shall amend the proxy voting regulation to waive its application to any voting authority exercised by an investment adviser regarding client securities that are not public securities. (Sec. 4) On the other hand, the SEC may not:  amend a specified regulation to extend its requirements and prohibitions concerning investment company sales literature to offerings of securities issued by private funds, or adopt substantially similar rules applicable to such offerings.  (Sec. 5) This bill shall not apply to advisory services supplied to an investment company registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940. (Sec. 6) Any regulation referred to in this bill includes any successor regulation.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Investment Advisers Modernization 
Act of 2016''.

SEC. 2. MODERNIZING CERTAIN REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO INVESTMENT 
              ADVISERS.

    (a) Investment Advisory Contracts.--
            (1) Assignment.--
                    (A) Assignment defined.--Section 202(a)(1) of the 
                Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (15 U.S.C. 80b-2(a)(1)) 
                is amended by striking ``; but'' and all that follows 
                and inserting ``; but no assignment of an investment 
                advisory contract shall be deemed to result from the 
                death or withdrawal, or the sale or transfer of the 
                interests, of a minority of the members, partners, 
                shareholders, or other equity owners of the investment 
                adviser having only a minority interest in the business 
                of the investment adviser, or from the admission to the 
                investment adviser of one or more members, partners, 
                shareholders, or other equity owners who, after such 
                admission, shall be only a minority of the members, 
                partners, shareholders, or other equity owners and 
                shall have only a minority interest in the business.''.
                    (B) Consent to assignment by qualified clients.--
                Section 205(a)(2) of the Investment Advisers Act of 
                1940 (15 U.S.C. 80b-5(a)(2)) is amended by inserting 
                before the semicolon the following: ``, except that if 
                such other party is a qualified client (as defined in 
                section 275.205-3 of title 17, Code of Federal 
                Regulations, or any successor thereto), such other 
                party may provide such consent at the time the parties 
                enter into, extend, or renew such contract''.
            (2) Not required to provide for notification of change in 
        membership of partnership.--Section 205 of the Investment 
        Advisers Act of 1940 (15 U.S.C. 80b-5) is amended--
                    (A) in subsection (a)--
                            (i) in paragraph (1), by striking the 
                        semicolon and inserting ``; or'';
                            (ii) in paragraph (2), by striking ``; or'' 
                        and inserting a period; and
                            (iii) by striking paragraph (3); and
                    (B) in subsection (d), by striking ``paragraphs (2) 
                and (3) of subsection (a)'' and inserting ``subsection 
                (a)(2)''.
    (b) Advertising Rule.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 90 days after the date of 
        the enactment of this Act, the Commission shall amend section 
        275.206(4)-1 of title 17, Code of Federal Regulations, to 
        provide that paragraphs (a)(1) and (a)(2) of such section do 
        not apply to an advertisement that an investment adviser 
        publishes, circulates, or distributes solely to persons 
        described in paragraph (2) of this subsection.
            (2) Persons described.--A person is described in this 
        paragraph if such person is, or the investment adviser 
        reasonably believes such person is--
                    (A) a qualified client (as defined in section 
                275.205-3 of title 17, Code of Federal Regulations), 
                determined as of the time of the publication, 
                circulation, or distribution of the advertisement 
                rather than immediately prior to or after entering into 
                the investment advisory contract referred to in such 
                section;
                    (B) a knowledgeable employee (as defined in section 
                270.3c-5 of title 17, Code of Federal Regulations) of 
                any private fund to which the investment adviser acts 
                as an investment adviser;
                    (C) a qualified purchaser (as defined in section 
                2(a) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 (15 U.S.C. 
                80a-2(a))); or
                    (D) an accredited investor (as defined in section 
                230.501 of title 17, Code of Federal Regulations), 
                determined as if the investment adviser were the issuer 
                of securities referred to in such section and the time 
                of the publication, circulation, or distribution of the 
                advertisement were the sale of such securities.

SEC. 3. REMOVING DUPLICATIVE BURDENS AND APPROPRIATELY TAILORING 
              CERTAIN REQUIREMENTS.

    (a) Form PF.--Not later than 90 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Commission shall amend section 275.204(b)-1 
of title 17, Code of Federal Regulations, to provide that an investment 
adviser to a private fund is not required to report any information 
beyond that which is required by sections 1a and 1b of Form PF, unless 
such investment adviser is a large hedge fund adviser or a large 
liquidity fund adviser (as such terms are defined in such Form).
    (b) Custody Rule.--Not later than 90 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Commission shall amend section 275.206(4)-2 
of title 17, Code of Federal Regulations, consistent with, and 
expanding on, IM Guidance Update No. 2013-04, titled ``Privately 
Offered Securities under the Investment Advisers Act Custody Rule'', 
published by the Division of Investment Management of the Commission, 
with respect to the exception for certain privately offered securities 
in paragraph (b)(2) of such section, so as to--
            (1) remove the requirement of clause (i)(B) of such 
        paragraph (relating to the uncertificated nature and 
        recordation of ownership of the securities); and
            (2) remove the requirement of clause (ii) of such paragraph 
        (relating to audit and financial statement distribution 
        requirements with respect to securities of pooled investment 
        vehicles).
    (c) Proxy Voting Rule.--Not later than 90 days after the date of 
the enactment of this Act, the Commission shall amend section 
275.206(4)-6 of title 17, Code of Federal Regulations, to provide that 
such section does not apply to any voting authority with respect to 
client securities that are not public securities.

SEC. 4. FACILITATING ROBUST CAPITAL FORMATION BY PREVENTING REGULATORY 
              MISMATCH.

    The Commission may not--
            (1) amend section 230.156 of title 17, Code of Federal 
        Regulations, to extend the provisions of such section to 
        offerings of securities issued by private funds; or
            (2) adopt rules applicable to offerings of securities 
        issued by private funds that are substantially the same as the 
        provisions of such section.

SEC. 5. EXCLUSION OF ADVISORY SERVICES TO REGISTERED INVESTMENT 
              COMPANIES.

    This Act shall not apply with respect to advisory services 
provided, or proposed to be provided, to an investment company 
registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (15 U.S.C. 80a-1 et 
seq.).

SEC. 6. REFERENCES TO REGULATIONS.

    In this Act, any reference to a regulation shall be construed to 
refer to such regulation or any successor thereto.

SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Public security.--The term ``public security'' means a 
        security issued by an issuer that--
                    (A) is required to submit reports under section 
                13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 
                (15 U.S.C. 78m(a); 78o(d)); or
                    (B) has a security that is listed or traded on any 
                exchange or organized market operating in a foreign 
                jurisdiction.
            (2) Terms defined in investment advisers act of 1940.--The 
        terms defined in section 202(a) of the Investment Advisers Act 
        of 1940 (15 U.S.C. 80b-2(a)) have the meanings given such terms 
        in such section.

            Passed the House of Representatives September 9, 2016.

            Attest:

                                                 KAREN L. HAAS,

                                                                 Clerk.