Amidst a complex landscape of securities regulation, family offices face several potential “traps for the unwary” when discerning which rules and requirements apply. One such trap is that family offices may qualify for exemption from investment adviser registration under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as amended (the Advisers Act), but may still be subject to the institutional investment manager filing requirements of Section 13(f) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the Exchange Act).
To avoid this trap, family offices and their legal advisors should develop comprehensive compliance plans that account for both their exemption from investment adviser registration, as well as their inclusion in Section 13(f)’s filing and reporting obligations.
