WASHINGTON, D.C.—Legal Director and Securities Specialist Stephen Hall issued the following statement on the filing of Better Markets’ comment letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in response to the agency’s proposed amendments to reporting requirements for private funds:
“The proposed rule will improve the quantity, quality, and timing of information the SEC receives regarding private funds, a notoriously shadowy sector of our financial markets. These new private fund reporting requirements are necessary to help the SEC and the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) identify threats to the stability of our financial system and better protect investors.
“Hedge funds, private equity funds, and liquidity funds are highly interconnected with our financial markets. They also take in vast amounts of investor funds, including pension money representing the hard-earned savings of millions of Americans. Yet as their names suggest, these are private funds, subject to limited reporting requirements. Under the Dodd-Frank Act, the SEC has been collecting basic information from private funds on an annual or in some cases quarterly basis. Based on the past ten years of experience, the SEC has reasonably concluded that more transparency is necessary.
“Several recent market events, including the COVID-19 induced turmoil in March 2020 and the GameStop trading frenzy in January 2021, have reinforced the need for regulators to have current information to identify and address pockets of market instability. The proposal will help meet this need by requiring private funds to file a Form PF within one business day of certain extraordinary events, including a massive short-term loss of value, significant margin increases, general partner claw backs, and other significant incidents. These reforms and the others in the proposal will help shed light where it’s needed most, in a largely opaque sector. Investors and markets will benefit.”
Read our full comment letter here or click the button below.
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Better Markets is a non-profit, non-partisan, and independent organization founded in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis to promote the public interest in the financial markets, support the financial reform of Wall Street and make our financial system work for all Americans again. Better Markets works with allies—including many in finance—to promote pro-market, pro-business and pro-growth policies that help build a stronger, safer financial system that protects and promotes Americans’ jobs, savings, retirements and more. To learn more, visit www.bettermarkets.org
