Committee Approves Private Advisor Registration Bill

Could it be that the long awaited first step toward the anticipated increase in demand for compliance professionals has been taken? Yesterday, the House Financial Services Committee passed H.R. 3818, the Private Fund Investment Advisers Registration Act, introduced by Congressman Paul E. Kanjorski (D-PA), Chairman of the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance, and Government Sponsored Enterprises. The Committee passed H.R. 3818 with extensive bipartisan support by a vote of 67-1. Today, the Committee is expected to vote on Chairman Kanjorski’s H.R. 3817, the Investor Protection Act and H.R. 3890, the Accountability and Transparency in Rating Agencies Act.

But the bill fell short of a White House proposal to oversee private pools of capital. The committee exempted venture capital funds and funds with less than $150 million in assets.

Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Mary Schapiro warned broadly at a Wall Street conference on Tuesday against too many exemptions, saying she would work with Congress to avoid creating new carve-outs that "could come back to haunt investors in later years."

Stay tuned to GlobalRiskJobs and GlobalComplianceJobs for opportunities as the regulatory story continues to unfold.