For most registered investment advisers, it is now time to file an amendment to your Form ADV. Pursuant to Rule 204-1 under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (“Advisers Act”), all investment advisers registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) must file an amendment to the Form ADV at least annually, within 90 days of the investment adviser’s fiscal year end and more frequently if required by the instructions to Form ADV. Most state securities regulators have similar rules and the Form ADV Instructions specifically indicate that the update instructions apply to “SEC and State Registered Advisers.”
Many investment advisers have a December fiscal year end, which would mean that the 2011 annual amendment filing is due by March 30, 2012. This year is a little different for all investment advisers registered with the SEC. Due to changes to the Advisers Act resulting from the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, all investment advisers registered with the SEC must file an amendment to Form ADV by March 30, 2012 indicating the reason it will remain eligible for SEC registration or that it is no longer eligible for SEC registration and will need to become state registered. For SEC investment advisers with a fiscal year end of October, November, or December 2011, this filing can be done in connection with your annual amendment as long as you have not done the annual amendment filing prior to January 1, 2012. For all other SEC investment advisers, this filing should be done as an other-than-annual amendment filing.
The Form ADV instructions provide specific details regarding which Items must be updated only annually; which items must be updated “promptly” if the information becomes inaccurate in any way; and which items must be updated “promptly” if the information becomes “materially” inaccurate. When filing an amendment to your Form ADV, all investment advisers should review the entire Form ADV to determine what information needs to be updated. This year a review of the entire Form ADV will be especially important because the Form ADV has been revised in several ways. The Form ADV revisions include new items, changes to existing items so as to request additional information or information to be provided in a different manner than in the past, and modifications to the instructions for completing the Form ADV, which most notably includes revisions to the instructions for calculating “regulatory” assets under management.
Failure to update your Form ADV, in accordance with the Form ADV instructions, is a violation of SEC Rule 204-1 and similar state rules and could lead to an investment adviser’s registration being revoked. RIA Compliance Consultants will be presenting a webinar, “Preparing Your Form ADV Annual Amendment” on January 12, 2011 at 12:00 pm CST if you would like more information regarding preparing your Form ADV amendments. The cost for this webinar is $69.95. Click here to register for the webinar.
RIA Compliance Consultants can assist you with your Form ADV amendments. If you are interested in this service, click here to schedule a time to speak with one of our consultants. Existing RIA Compliance Consultants’ clients should contact their consultant directly.
Posted by Bryan Hill
Labels: Annual Amendment, SEC
