Title 15 — Commerce and TradeRelease 119-73
§80a–6 Exemptions
Title 15 › Chapter CHAPTER 2D— - INVESTMENT COMPANIES AND ADVISERS › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER I— - INVESTMENT COMPANIES › § 80a–6
Summary
Some investment companies do not have to follow the main rules here. The SEC can exempt certain companies when it is in the public interest and protects investors. Exemptions include: companies reorganized under a court where the company was not an investment company at the start, creditors own the securities at the end, and more than 50% of voting power and net asset value is owned by no more than 25 people (but the exemption ends if the issuer later sells securities to the public); issuers covered by a two-year or earlier-cancelled written exemption from the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation for segregated savings-and-loan assets; a specific kind of wholly owned subsidiary existing since before March 15, 1940, operating under state insurance rules and dealing mainly with mortgage-related securities; and certain state-regulated non-redeemable companies that fund local economic development if they meet limits on purpose, ownership (at least 80% in-state holders after each sale), investor type (sold only to accredited investors or others the SEC allows), and what securities they may buy. Employees’ security companies can ask the SEC for exemptions. The SEC may also exempt other persons, securities, or transactions when it finds that fair to protect investors. Closed-end companies can be exempt if total money raised and proposed to be raised does not exceed $10,000,000 (or another SEC-set amount), sales are only to in-state residents, and the exemption is not against the public interest. The SEC can still apply some registered-company rules to an exempt company, set extra conditions, or require a filing or notice (including a 90-day plan for some companies choosing to become business development companies).
Full Legal Text
Title 15, §80a–6
Commerce and Trade — Source: USLM XML via OLRC
(a)The following investment companies are exempt from the provisions of this subchapter:
(1)Any company which since the effective date of this subchapter or within five years prior to such date has been reorganized under the supervision of a court of competent jurisdiction, if (A) such company was not an investment company at the commencement of such reorganization proceedings, (B) at the conclusion of such proceedings all outstanding securities of such company were owned by creditors of such company or by persons to whom such securities were issued on account of creditors’ claims, and (C) more than 50 per centum of the voting securities of such company, and securities representing more than 50 per centum of the net asset value of such company, are currently owned beneficially by not more than twenty-five persons; but such exemption shall terminate if any security of which such company is the issuer is offered for sale or sold to the public after the conclusion of such proceedings by the issuer or by or through any underwriter. For the purposes of this paragraph, any new company organized as part of the reorganization shall be deemed the same company as its predecessor; and beneficial ownership shall be determined in the manner provided in section 80a–3(c)(1) of this title.
(2)Any issuer as to which there is outstanding a writing filed with the Commission by the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation stating that exemption of such issuer from the provisions of this subchapter is consistent with the public interest and the protection of investors and is necessary or appropriate by reason of the fact that such issuer holds or proposes to acquire any assets or any product of any assets which have been segregated (A) from assets of any company which at the filing of such writing is an insured institution within the meaning of section 1724(a) 11 See References in Text note below. of title 12, or (B) as a part of or in connection with any plan for or condition to the insurance of accounts of any company by said corporation or the conversion of any company into a Federal savings and loan association. Any such writing shall expire when canceled by a writing similarly filed or at the expiration of two years after the date of its filing, whichever first occurs; but said corporation may, nevertheless, before, at, or after the expiration of any such writing file another writing or writings with respect to such issuer.
(3)Any company which prior to March 15, 1940, was and now is a wholly-owned subsidiary of a registered face-amount certificate company and was prior to said date and now is organized and operating under the insurance laws of any State and subject to supervision and examination by the insurance commissioner thereof, and which prior to March 15, 1940, was and now is engaged, subject to such laws, in business substantially all of which consists of issuing and selling only to residents of such State and investing the proceeds from, securities providing for or representing participations or interests in intangible assets consisting of mortgages or other liens on real estate or notes or bonds secured thereby or in a fund or deposit of mortgages or other liens on real estate or notes or bonds secured thereby or having outstanding such securities so issued and sold.
(4)(A)Any company that is not engaged in the business of issuing redeemable securities, the operations of which are subject to regulation by the State in which the company is organized under a statute governing entities that provide financial or managerial assistance to enterprises doing business, or proposing to do business, in that State if—
(i)the organizational documents of the company state that the activities of the company are limited to the promotion of economic, business, or industrial development in the State through the provision of financial or managerial assistance to enterprises doing business, or proposing to do business, in that State, and such other activities that are incidental or necessary to carry out that purpose;
(ii)immediately following each sale of the securities of the company by the company or any underwriter for the company, not less than 80 percent of the securities of the company being offered in such sale, on a class-by-class basis, are held by persons who reside or who have a substantial business presence in that State;
(iii)the securities of the company are sold, or proposed to be sold, by the company or by any underwriter for the company, solely to accredited investors, as that term is defined in section 77b(a)(15) of this title, or to such other persons that the Commission, as necessary or appropriate in the public interest and consistent with the protection of investors, may permit by rule, regulation, or order; and
(iv)the company does not purchase any security issued by an investment company or by any company that would be an investment company except for the exclusions from the definition of the term “investment company” under paragraph (1) or (7) of section 80a–3(c) of this title, other than—
(I)any debt security that meets such standards of credit-worthiness as the Commission shall adopt; or
(II)any security issued by a registered open-end investment company that is required by its investment policies to invest not less than 65 percent of its total assets in securities described in subclause (I) or securities that are determined by such registered open-end investment company to be comparable in quality to securities described in subclause (I).
(B)Notwithstanding the exemption provided by this paragraph, section 80a–9 of this title (and, to the extent necessary to enforce section 80a–9 of this title, sections 80a–37 through 80a–50 of this title) shall apply to a company described in this paragraph as if the company were an investment company registered under this subchapter.
(C)Any company proposing to rely on the exemption provided by this paragraph shall file with the Commission a notification stating that the company intends to do so, in such form and manner as the Commission may prescribe by rule.
(D)Any company meeting the requirements of this paragraph may rely on the exemption provided by this paragraph upon filing with the Commission the notification required by subparagraph (C), until such time as the Commission determines by order that such reliance is not in the public interest or is not consistent with the protection of investors.
(E)The exemption provided by this paragraph may be subject to such additional terms and conditions as the Commission may by rule, regulation, or order determine are necessary or appropriate in the public interest or for the protection of investors.
(b)Upon application by any employees’ security company, the Commission shall by order exempt such company from the provisions of this subchapter and of the rules and regulations hereunder, if and to the extent that such exemption is consistent with the protection of investors. In determining the provisions to which such an order of exemption shall apply, the Commission shall give due weight, among other things, to the form of organization and the capital structure of such company, the persons by whom its voting securities, evidences of indebtedness, and other securities are owned and controlled, the prices at which securities issued by such company are sold and the sales load thereon, the disposition of the proceeds of such sales, the character of the securities in which such proceeds are invested, and any relationship between such company and the issuer of any such security.
(c)The Commission, by rules and regulations upon its own motion, or by order upon application, may conditionally or unconditionally exempt any person, security, or transaction, or any class or classes of persons, securities, or transactions, from any provision or provisions of this subchapter or of any rule or regulation thereunder, if and to the extent that such exemption is necessary or appropriate in the public interest and consistent with the protection of investors and the purposes fairly intended by the policy and provisions of this subchapter.
(d)The Commission, by rules and regulations or order, shall exempt a closed-end investment company from any or all provisions of this subchapter, but subject to such terms and conditions as may be necessary or appropriate in the public interest or for the protection of investors, if—
(1)the aggregate sums received by such company from the sale of all its outstanding securities, plus the aggregate offering price of all securities of which such company is the issuer and which it proposes to offer for sale, do not exceed $10,000,000, or such other amount as the Commission may set by rule, regulation, or order;
(2)no security of which such company is the issuer has been or is proposed to be sold by such company or any underwriter therefor, in connection with a public offering, to any person who is not a resident of the State under the laws of which such company is organized or otherwise created; and
(3)such exemption is not contrary to the public interest or inconsistent with the protection of investors.
(e)If, in connection with any rule, regulation, or order under this section exempting any investment company from any provision of section 80a–7 of this title, the Commission deems it necessary or appropriate in the public interest or for the protection of investors that certain specified provisions of this subchapter pertaining to registered investment companies shall be applicable in respect of such company, the provisions so specified shall apply to such company, and to other persons in their transactions and relations with such company, as though such company were a registered investment company.
(f)Any closed-end company which—
(1)elects to be treated as a business development company pursuant to section 80a–53 of this title; or
(2)would be excluded from the definition of an investment company by section 80a–3(c)(1) of this title, except that it presently proposes to make a public offering of its securities as a business development company, and has notified the Commission, in a form and manner which the Commission may, by rule, prescribe, that it intends in good faith to file, within 90 days, a notification of election to become subject to the provisions of sections 80a–54 through 80a–64 of this title,
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Editorial Notes
References in Text
For the
Effective Date
of this subchapter, referred to in subsec. (a)(1), see section 80a–52 of this title. Section 1724 of title 12, referred to in subsec. (a)(2), was repealed by Pub. L. 101–73, title IV, § 407, Aug. 9, 1989, 103 Stat. 363.
Amendments
2018—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 115–174 redesignated pars. (2) to (5) as (1) to (4), respectively, and struck out former par. (1) which read as follows: “Any company organized or otherwise created under the laws of and having its principal office and place of business in Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, or any other possession of the United States; but such exemption shall terminate if any security of which such company is the issuer is offered for sale or sold after the
Effective Date
of this subchapter, by such company or an underwriter therefor, to a resident of any State other than the State in which such company is organized.” 2010—Subsec. (a)(5)(A)(iv)(I). Pub. L. 111–203 substituted “meets such standards of credit-worthiness as the Commission shall adopt” for “is rated investment grade by not less than 1 nationally recognized statistical rating organization”. 1996—Subsec. (a)(5). Pub. L. 104–290, § 501, added par. (5). Subsec. (d)(1). Pub. L. 104–290, § 502, substituted “$10,000,000, or such other amount as the Commission may set by rule, regulation, or order” for “$100,000”. 1987—Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 100–181, § 608(1), struck out reference to Canal Zone. Subsec. (a)(2) to (5). Pub. L. 100–181, § 608(2), redesignated pars. (3) to (5) as (2) to (4), respectively, and struck out former par. (2) which read as follows: “Any company for which, in a proceeding in any court of the United States or of a State, a receiver, trustee in a case under title 11, or similar officer had been appointed or elected prior to the
Effective Date
of this subchapter, and every such officer so appointed or elected prior to the
Effective Date
of this subchapter; but such exemption shall continue only so long as (A) the conduct of such company’s business remains subject to the supervision of such court or officer thereof, and (B) such company does not sell exclusively for cash any security of which it is the issuer, except short-term paper and ordinary receiver’s or trustee’s certificates.” 1980—Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 96–477 added subsec. (f). 1978—Subsec. (a)(2). Pub. L. 95–598 substituted “a case under title 11” for “bankruptcy”. 1960—Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 86–624 struck out reference to Hawaii. 1959—Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 86–70 struck out reference to Alaska.
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date
of 2018 Amendment; Safe Harbor Pub. L. 115–174, title V, § 506(b), May 24, 2018, 132 Stat. 1363, provided that: “(1)
Effective Date
.—Except as provided in paragraph (2), the amendment made by subsection (a) [amending this section] shall take effect on the date of enactment of this Act [May 24, 2018]. “(2) Safe harbor.—With respect to a company that is exempt under section 6(a)(1) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 (15 U.S.C. 80a–6(a)(1)) on the day before the date of enactment of this Act, the amendment made by subsection (a) shall take effect on the date that is 3 years after the date of enactment of this Act. “(3) Extension of safe harbor.—The Securities and Exchange Commission, by rule or regulation upon its own motion, or by order upon application, may conditionally or unconditionally, under section 6(c) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 (15 U.S.C. 80a–6(c)), further delay the
Effective Date
for a company described in paragraph (2) for a maximum of 3 years following the initial 3-year period if, before the end of the initial 3-year period, the Commission determines that such a rule, regulation, motion, or order is necessary or appropriate in the public interest and for the protection of investors.” [For definition of “company” as used in section 506(b) of Pub. L. 115–174, set out above, see section 2 of Pub. L. 115–174, set out as a Definitions note under section 5365 of Title 12, Banks and Banking.]
Effective Date
of 2010 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 111–203 effective 2 years after July 21, 2010, see section 939(g) of Pub. L. 111–203, set out as a note under section 24a of Title 12, Banks and Banking.
Effective Date
of 1978 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 95–598 effective Oct. 1, 1979, see section 402(a) of Pub. L. 95–598, set out as an
Effective Date
note preceding section 101 of Title 11, Bankruptcy.
Transfer of Functions
Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation abolished and functions transferred, see sections 401 to 406 of Pub. L. 101–73, set out as a note under section 1437 of Title 12, Banks and Banking. Investment Company Provisions Inapplicable to Certain Life Insurance Benefits Issued Prior to March 23, 1959Subchapter inapplicable to certain life insurance benefits issued prior to Mar. 23, 1959, under certain conditions, see section 29 of Pub. L. 91–547, Dec. 14, 1970, 84 Stat. 1436, set out as a note under section 77c of this title.
Executive Documents
Transfer of Functions
For
Transfer of Functions
of Securities and Exchange Commission, with certain exceptions, to Chairman of such Commission, see Reorg. Plan No. 10 of 1950, §§ 1, 2, eff. May 24, 1950, 15 F.R. 3175, 64 Stat. 1265, set out under section 78d of this title.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
15 U.S.C. § 80a–6
Title 15 — Commerce and Trade
Last Updated
Apr 6, 2026
Release point: 119-73