Title 15 — Commerce and TradeRelease 119-73
§80b–4 Reports by investment advisers
Title 15 › Chapter CHAPTER 2D— - INVESTMENT COMPANIES AND ADVISERS › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER II— - INVESTMENT ADVISERS › § 80b–4
Summary
Investment advisers who use the mail or any interstate means must keep and keep safe the records the Commission (the SEC) requires. They must give copies and file reports the Commission says are needed to protect investors. The Commission can examine those records at any time. For private funds an adviser manages, the Commission can make the adviser keep and file extra records and reports and must treat the fund’s records as the adviser’s records. The reports for each private fund must cover things like how much is managed and how much borrowing or leverage is used, counterparty credit risk, trading and investment positions, how the fund sets values, types of assets held, any side deals that give some investors better rights, trading practices, and other information the Commission and the Financial Stability Oversight Council (the Council) find necessary. The Commission will set how long records must be kept, require regular and special inspections, and can make advisers give copies or extracts quickly. The Commission will share these reports with the Council and may share them with other federal agencies or self‑regulatory groups when needed. Those recipients must keep the information confidential. The Commission generally does not have to make these reports public and is exempt from the usual public‑records rules, but it may share information with Congress under a confidentiality agreement, with other agencies for their jobs, or if a U.S. court orders it. Sensitive business information—like an adviser’s trading strategies, research methods, trading data, or proprietary software or hardware—gets extra protection. The Commission must report to Congress every year on how it used the collected data. The Commission can require filings through a designated entity, have that entity run a toll‑free phone line or electronic service to answer questions about adviser registration and disciplinary history (covering advisers registered with the Commission or only with a State), allow reasonable fees for non‑individual requesters, and limit liability for good‑faith actions. Firms that custody client assets are subject to Commission exams, though those already examined by a federal financial regulator can satisfy requests by giving a written detailed list. Finally, the Commission must adopt data standards for these filings and, where possible, make them compatible with applicable banking data standards.
Full Legal Text
Title 15, §80b–4
Commerce and Trade — Source: USLM XML via OLRC
(a)Every investment adviser who makes use of the mails or of any means or instrumentality of interstate commerce in connection with his or its business as an investment adviser (other than one specifically exempted from registration pursuant to section 80b–3(b) of this title), shall make and keep for prescribed periods such records (as defined in section 78c(a)(37) of this title), furnish such copies thereof, and make and disseminate such reports as the Commission, by rule, may prescribe as necessary or appropriate in the public interest or for the protection of investors. All records (as so defined) of such investment advisers are subject at any time, or from time to time, to such reasonable periodic, special, or other examinations by representatives of the Commission as the Commission deems necessary or appropriate in the public interest or for the protection of investors.
(b)(1)The Commission may require any investment adviser registered under this subchapter—
(A)to maintain such records of, and file with the Commission such reports regarding, private funds advised by the investment adviser, as necessary and appropriate in the public interest and for the protection of investors, or for the assessment of systemic risk by the Financial Stability Oversight Council (in this subsection referred to as the “Council”); and
(B)to provide or make available to the Council those reports or records or the information contained therein.
(2)The records and reports of any private fund to which an investment adviser registered under this subchapter provides investment advice shall be deemed to be the records and reports of the investment adviser.
(3)The records and reports required to be maintained by an investment adviser and subject to inspection by the Commission under this subsection shall include, for each private fund advised by the investment adviser, a description of—
(A)the amount of assets under management and use of leverage, including off-balance-sheet leverage;
(B)counterparty credit risk exposure;
(C)trading and investment positions;
(D)valuation policies and practices of the fund;
(E)types of assets held;
(F)side arrangements or side letters, whereby certain investors in a fund obtain more favorable rights or entitlements than other investors;
(G)trading practices; and
(H)such other information as the Commission, in consultation with the Council, determines is necessary and appropriate in the public interest and for the protection of investors or for the assessment of systemic risk, which may include the establishment of different reporting requirements for different classes of fund advisers, based on the type or size of private fund being advised.
(4)An investment adviser registered under this subchapter shall maintain such records of private funds advised by the investment adviser for such period or periods as the Commission, by rule, may prescribe as necessary and appropriate in the public interest and for the protection of investors, or for the assessment of systemic risk.
(5)The Commission shall issue rules requiring each investment adviser to a private fund to file reports containing such information as the Commission deems necessary and appropriate in the public interest and for the protection of investors or for the assessment of systemic risk.
(6)(A)The Commission—
(i)shall conduct periodic inspections of the records of private funds maintained by an investment adviser registered under this subchapter in accordance with a schedule established by the Commission; and
(ii)may conduct at any time and from time to time such additional, special, and other examinations as the Commission may prescribe as necessary and appropriate in the public interest and for the protection of investors, or for the assessment of systemic risk.
(B)An investment adviser registered under this subchapter shall make available to the Commission any copies or extracts from such records as may be prepared without undue effort, expense, or delay, as the Commission or its representatives may reasonably request.
(7)(A)The Commission shall make available to the Council copies of all reports, documents, records, and information filed with or provided to the Commission by an investment adviser under this subsection as the Council may consider necessary for the purpose of assessing the systemic risk posed by a private fund.
(B)The Council shall maintain the confidentiality of information received under this paragraph in all such reports, documents, records, and information, in a manner consistent with the level of confidentiality established for the Commission pursuant to paragraph (8). The Council shall be exempt from section 552 of title 5 with respect to any information in any report, document, record, or information made available, to the Council under this subsection.”.11 So in original. The quotation marks and period probably should not appear.
(8)Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Commission may not be compelled to disclose any report or information contained therein required to be filed with the Commission under this subsection, except that nothing in this subsection authorizes the Commission—
(A)to withhold information from Congress, upon an agreement of confidentiality; or
(B)prevent 22 So in original. Probably should be preceded by “to”. the Commission from complying with—
(i)a request for information from any other Federal department or agency or any self-regulatory organization requesting the report or information for purposes within the scope of its jurisdiction; or
(ii)an order of a court of the United States in an action brought by the United States or the Commission.
(9)Any department, agency, or self-regulatory organization that receives reports or information from the Commission under this subsection shall maintain the confidentiality of such reports, documents, records, and information in a manner consistent with the level of confidentiality established for the Commission under paragraph (8).
(10)(A)The Commission, the Council, and any other department, agency, or self-regulatory organization that receives information, reports, documents, records, or information from the Commission under this subsection, shall be exempt from the provisions of section 552 of title 5 with respect to any such report, document, record, or information. Any proprietary information of an investment adviser ascertained by the Commission from any report required to be filed with the Commission pursuant to this subsection shall be subject to the same limitations on public disclosure as any facts ascertained during an examination, as provided by section 80b–10(b) of this title.
(B)For purposes of this paragraph, proprietary information includes sensitive, non-public information regarding—
(i)the investment or trading strategies of the investment adviser;
(ii)analytical or research methodologies;
(iii)trading data;
(iv)computer hardware or software containing intellectual property; and
(v)any additional information that the Commission determines to be proprietary.
(11)The Commission shall report annually to Congress on how the Commission has used the data collected pursuant to this subsection to monitor the markets for the protection of investors and the integrity of the markets.
(c)The Commission may, by rule, require an investment adviser—
(1)to file with the Commission any fee, application, report, or notice required to be filed by this subchapter or the rules issued under this subchapter through any entity designated by the Commission for that purpose; and
(2)to pay the reasonable costs associated with such filing and the establishment and maintenance of the systems required by subsection (c).
(d)(1)(A)The Commission shall require the entity designated by the Commission under subsection (b)(1) to establish and maintain a toll-free telephone listing, or a readily accessible electronic or other process, to receive and promptly respond to inquiries regarding registration information (including disciplinary actions, regulatory, judicial, and arbitration proceedings, and other information required by law or rule to be reported) involving investment advisers and persons associated with investment advisers.
(B)This subsection shall apply to any investment adviser (and the persons associated with that adviser), whether the investment adviser is registered with the Commission under section 80b–3 of this title or regulated solely by a State, as described in section 80b–3a of this title.
(2)An entity designated by the Commission under subsection (b)(1) may charge persons making inquiries, other than individual investors, reasonable fees for responses to inquiries described in paragraph (1).
(3)An entity designated by the Commission under subsection (b)(1) shall not have any liability to any person for any actions taken or omitted in good faith under this subsection.
(e)(1)Records of persons having custody or use of the securities, deposits, or credits of a client, that relate to such custody or use, are subject at any time, or from time to time, to such reasonable periodic, special, or other examinations and other information and document requests by representatives of the Commission, as the Commission deems necessary or appropriate in the public interest or for the protection of investors.
(2)Any person that is subject to regulation and examination by a Federal financial institution regulatory agency (as such term is defined under section 212(c)(2) of title 18) may satisfy any examination request, information request, or document request described under paragraph (1), by providing the Commission with a detailed listing, in writing, of the securities, deposits, or credits of the client within the custody or use of such person.
(f)(1)The Commission shall, by rule, adopt data standards for all reports filed by investment advisers with the Commission under this section.
(2)The data standards required under paragraph (1) shall incorporate, and ensure compatibility with (to the extent feasible), all applicable data standards established in the rules promulgated under section 5334 of title 12, including, to the extent practicable, by having the characteristics described in clauses (i) through (vi) of subsection (c)(1)(B) of such section 5334.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Editorial Notes
Amendments
2022—Subsecs. (d), (e). Pub. L. 117–263, § 5821(a)(1), redesignated subsec. (d) relating to records of persons with custody or use as (e). Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 117–263, § 5821(a)(2), added subsec. (f). 2010—Subsecs. (b), (c). Pub. L. 111–203, § 404, added subsec. (b) and redesignated former subsec. (b) as (c). Former subsec. (c) redesignated (d) relating to access to disciplinary and other information. Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 111–203, § 929Q(b), added subsec. (d) relating to records of persons with custody or use. Pub. L. 111–203, § 404(1), redesignated subsec. (c) as (d) relating to access to disciplinary and other information. 2006—Pub. L. 109–290 designated existing provisions as subsec. (a), inserted heading, and added subsecs. (b) and (c). 1975—Pub. L. 94–29 substituted “make and keep for prescribed periods such records (as defined in section 78c(a)(37) of this title), furnish such copies thereof, and make and disseminate such reports as the Commission, by rule, may prescribe as necessary or appropriate in the public interest or for the protection of investors. All records (as so defined) of such investment advisers are subject at any time, or from time to time, to such reasonable periodic, special, or other examinations by representatives of the Commission as the Commission deems necessary or appropriate in the public interest or for the protection of investors” for “make, keep, and preserve for such periods, such accounts, correspondence, memorandums, papers, books, and other records, and make such reports, as the Commission by its
Rules and Regulations
may prescribe as necessary or appropriate in the public interest or for the protection of investors. Such accounts, correspondence, memorandums, papers, books, and other records shall be subject at any time or from time to time to such reasonable periodic, special, or other examinations by examiners or other representatives of the Commission as the Commission may deem necessary or appropriate in the public interest or for the protection of investors”. 1960—Pub. L. 86–750 substituted provisions requiring investment advisers who make business use of the mails or any instrument of interstate commerce, unless exempted from registration by section 80b–3(b) of this title, to keep and preserve accounts, correspondence, memorandums, papers, books, and records, and make such reports as the Commission requires by its
Rules and Regulations
, and that these accounts, correspondence, memorandums, papers, books and records shall be subject to examination by representatives of the Commission, for provisions requiring investment advisers registered under section 80b–3 of this title to file annual and special reports in such form as the Commission prescribed by its
Rules and Regulations
to keep current the information contained in the registration application.
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date
of 2010 AmendmentAmendment by section 929Q(b) of Pub. L. 111–203 effective 1 day after July 21, 2010, except as otherwise provided, see section 4 of Pub. L. 111–203, set out as an
Effective Date
note under section 5301 of Title 12, Banks and Banking. Amendment by section 404 of Pub. L. 111–203 effective 1 year after July 21, 2010, except that any investment adviser may, at the discretion of the investment adviser, register with the Commission under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 during that 1-year period, subject to the rules of the Commission, and except as otherwise provided, see section 419 of Pub. L. 111–203, set out as a note under section 80b–2 of this title.
Effective Date
of 1975 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 94–29 effective June 4, 1975, see section 31(a) of Pub. L. 94–29, set out as a note under section 78b of this title. Rule of
Construction
—No New Disclosure RequirementsAmendment by Pub. L. 117–263 not to be construed to require certain additional information to be collected or disclosed, see section 5826 of Pub. L. 117–263, set out as a note under section 77g 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. § 80b–4
Title 15 — Commerce and Trade
Last Updated
Apr 6, 2026
Release point: 119-73