SEC Investment Adviser Examinations

Since Dodd-Frank, Weil has collaborated with investment adviser clients to prepare for all phases of SEC examinations. Today, Weil’s SEC Examinations Group employs a cross-disciplinary team that includes a former senior 10-year veteran of SEC’s Division of Examinations who trained SEC exam staff and worked on hundreds of adviser examinations each year, veteran private fund adviser regulatory experts who have worked with private fund clients on a myriad of SEC exams, privacy law experts, SEC litigators, ERISA specialists and tax experts to provide proactive, 360-degree counsel for investment advisers that are preparing for, undergoing, or responding to SEC examinations.

Notable Representations, Key Contacts

Weil’s experience in SEC Investment Adviser Examinations is deep, and cross-disciplinary, the result of focused concentration by attorneys working together across the Firm’s offices and practices. We are helping all types of investment advisers, including private equity, infrastructure, credit, real estate, growth, secondaries and hedge fund managers and retail advisers, prepare for SEC examinations, navigate the examination process and respond to SEC deficiency letters and enforcement investigations. Our team, which includes senior members of the SEC’s Division of Examinations and Division of Enforcement, also advises clients on how to avoid or mitigate potential referrals to the Division of Enforcement, and in the event of an investigation, can defend those matters.

Pre-exam phase

Mock examinations
LPA compliance testing
Annual reviews
Marketing Rule reviews
Form ADV
Form PF filings, including “current-report” filings for certain events, such as GP-led secondary transactions
Structuring and registration with the SEC
MNPI / Code of Ethics issues
Principal and cross trades
LPAC process
Fee and expense testing
Strategic advice