Co-authored by Seth M. Messner

The Securities and Exchange Commission has proposed Rule 202(a)(11)(G)-1 under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as amended (Advisers Act), to define “family offices” that would be excluded from the definition of “investment adviser.” The proposed rule was mandated in Section 409 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (the Act).

Family offices are established by wealthy families to manage their wealth, plan for their families’ financial future and provide other services to family members. Absent an exclusion, family offices would typically fall under the definition of investment adviser under the Advisers Act.

Many family offices have previously relied on the exemption from registration under the Advisers Act in Section 203(b)(3) for an investment adviser who during the course of the preceding 12 months has had fewer than 15 clients and who neither holds itself out generally to the public as an investment adviser nor acts as an investment adviser to any investment company or business development company. The Act eliminated the exemption contained in Section 203(b)(3), effective July 21, 2011.Continue Reading SEC Proposes Rule to Exclude Family Offices from Regulation as Investment Advisers