The SEC voted to adopt the proposed registration rules for private fund advisers with the following provisions and compliance dates (in summary):

• Private fund advisers with U.S. assets under management of at least $150 million will be required to file with the SEC as registered investment advisers under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (“Advisers Act”) by March 30, 2012;
• Private fund advisers with U.S. assets under management of less than $150 million will be defined as Exempt Reporting Advisers under Section 203 of the Advisers Act and will be required to report specific information to the SEC on an annual basis via the IARD system. The SEC will re-visit the reporting requirements in one year to determine if the data collected is meaningful to the Staff and if the reporting requirements need to be amended;
• Exempt Reporting Advisers will be subject to examination by the SEC under the anti-fraud provisions, but will NOT be part of the routine examination program;
• Venture Capital Funds, as defined by Rule 203(1)-1, will be exempt from registration as long as they meet certain requirements as outlined by the Rule, specifically regarding the nature of investments, but will be subject to the same reporting requirements as Exempt Reporting Advisers. The adopting release does contain a grandfather clause;
• The Foreign Private Adviser exemption was adopted as proposed in Rel. No. IA-3111;
• Family wealth offices will be exempt from registration under the Advisers Act as long as they meet the definition of a Family Wealth Office as defined in the release. The exemption includes a transition period to allow family wealth offices to determine if they meet the requirements of the exemption. The earliest compliance date for family wealth offices that do NOT meet the exemption is March 30, 2012.