15 USC 80b-3 - Registration of investment advisers

U.S Code last checked for updates: Sep 24, 2026

§ 80b–3.

Registration of investment advisers

(a)

Necessity of registration

(b)

Investment advisers who need not be registered

The provisions of subsection (a) shall not apply to—

(1)

any investment adviser, other than an investment adviser who acts as an investment adviser to any private fund, all of whose clients are residents of the State within which such investment adviser maintains his or its principal office and place of business, and who does not furnish advice or issue analyses or reports with respect to securities listed or admitted to unlisted trading privileges on any national securities exchange;

(2)

any investment adviser whose only clients are insurance companies;

(3)

any investment adviser that is a foreign private adviser;

(4)

any investment adviser that is a charitable organization, as defined in section 80a–3(c)(10)(D) of this title, or is a trustee, director, officer, employee, or volunteer of such a charitable organization acting within the scope of such person’s employment or duties with such organization, whose advice, analyses, or reports are provided only to one or more of the following:

(A)

any such charitable organization;

(B)

a fund that is excluded from the definition of an investment company under section 80a–3(c)(10)(B) of this title; or

(C)

a trust or other donative instrument described in section 80a–3(c)(10)(B) of this title, or the trustees, administrators, settlors (or potential settlors), or beneficiaries of any such trust or other instrument;

(5)

any plan described in section 414(e) of title 26, any person or entity eligible to establish and maintain such a plan under title 26, or any trustee, director, officer, or employee of or volunteer for any such plan or person, if such person or entity, acting in such capacity, provides investment advice exclusively to, or with respect to, any plan, person, or entity or any company, account, or fund that is excluded from the definition of an investment company under section 80a–3(c)(14) of this title;

(6)

(A)

any investment adviser that is registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission as a commodity trading advisor whose business does not consist primarily of acting as an investment adviser, as defined in section 80b–2(a)(11) of this title, and that does not act as an investment adviser to—

(i)

an investment company registered under subchapter I of this chapter; or

(ii)

a company which has elected to be a business development company pursuant to section 80a–53 of this title and has not withdrawn its election; or

(B)

any investment adviser that is registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission as a commodity trading advisor and advises a private fund, provided that, if after July 21, 2010, the business of the advisor should become predominately the provision of securities-related advice, then such adviser shall register with the Commission;

(7)

any investment adviser, other than any entity that has elected to be regulated or is regulated as a business development company pursuant to section 80a–53 of this title, who solely advises—

(A)

small business investment companies that are licensees under the Small Business Investment Act of 1958 [15 U.S.C. 661 et seq.];

(B)

entities that have received from the Small Business Administration notice to proceed to qualify for a license as a small business investment company under the Small Business Investment Act of 1958, which notice or license has not been revoked; or

(C)

applicants that are affiliated with 1 or more licensed small business investment companies described in subparagraph (A) and that have applied for another license under the Small Business Investment Act of 1958, which application remains pending; or

(8)

any investment adviser, other than an entity that has elected to be regulated or is regulated as a business development company pursuant to section 80a–53 of this title, who solely advises—

(A)

rural business investment companies (as defined in section 2009cc of title 7); or

(B)

companies that have submitted to the Secretary of Agriculture an application in accordance with section 2009cc–3(b) of title 7 that—

(i)

have received from the Secretary of Agriculture a letter of conditions, which has not been revoked; or

(ii)

are affiliated with 1 or more rural business investment companies described in subparagraph (A).

(c)

Procedure for registration; filing of application; effective date of registration; amendment of registration

(1)

An investment adviser, or any person who presently contemplates becoming an investment adviser, may be registered by filing with the Commission an application for registration in such form and containing such of the following information and documents as the Commission, by rule, may prescribe as necessary or appropriate in the public interest or for the protection of investors:

(A)

the name and form of organization under which the investment adviser engages or intends to engage in business; the name of the State or other sovereign power under which such investment adviser is organized; the location of his or its principal office, principal place of business, and branch offices, if any; the names and addresses of his or its partners, officers, directors, and persons performing similar functions or, if such an investment adviser be an individual, of such individual; and the number of his or its employees;

(B)

the education, the business affiliations for the past ten years, and the present business affiliations of such investment adviser and of his or its partners, officers, directors, and persons performing similar functions and of any controlling person thereof;

(C)

the nature of the business of such investment adviser, including the manner of giving advice and rendering analyses or reports;

(D)

a balance sheet certified by an independent public accountant and other financial statements (which shall, as the Commission specifies, be certified);

(E)

the nature and scope of the authority of such investment adviser with respect to clients’ funds and accounts;

(F)

the basis or bases upon which such investment adviser is compensated;

(G)

whether such investment adviser, or any person associated with such investment adviser, is subject to any disqualification which would be a basis for denial, suspension, or revocation of registration of such investment adviser under the provisions of subsection (e) of this section; and

(H)

a statement as to whether the principal business of such investment adviser consists or is to consist of acting as investment adviser and a statement as to whether a substantial part of the business of such investment adviser, consists or is to consist of rendering investment supervisory services.

(2)

Within forty-five days of the date of the filing of such application (or within such longer period as to which the applicant consents) the Commission shall—

(A)

by order grant such registration; or

(B)

institute proceedings to determine whether registration should be denied. Such proceedings shall include notice of the grounds for denial under consideration and opportunity for hearing and shall be concluded within one hundred twenty days of the date of the filing of the application for registration. At the conclusion of such proceedings the Commission, by order, shall grant or deny such registration. The Commission may extend the time for conclusion of such proceedings for up to ninety days if it finds good cause for such extension and publishes its reasons for so finding or for such longer period as to which the applicant consents.

The Commission shall grant such registration if the Commission finds that the requirements of this section are satisfied and that the applicant is not prohibited from registering as an investment adviser under section 80b–3a of this title. The Commission shall deny such registration if it does not make such a finding or if it finds that if the applicant were so registered, its registration would be subject to suspension or revocation under subsection (e) of this section.

(d)

Other acts prohibited by subchapter

(e)

Censure, denial, or suspension of registration; notice and hearing

The Commission, by order, shall censure, place limitations on the activities, functions, or operations of, suspend for a period not exceeding twelve months, or revoke the registration of any investment adviser if it finds, on the record after notice and opportunity for hearing, that such censure, placing of limitations, suspension, or revocation is in the public interest and that such investment adviser, or any person associated with such investment adviser, whether prior to or subsequent to becoming so associated—

(1)

has willfully made or caused to be made in any application for registration or report required to be filed with the Commission under this subchapter, or in any proceeding before the Commission with respect to registration, any statement which was at the time and in the light of the circumstances under which it was made false or misleading with respect to any material fact, or has omitted to state in any such application or report any material fact which is required to be stated therein.

(2)

has been convicted within ten years preceding the filing of any application for registration or at any time thereafter of any felony or misdemeanor or of a substantially equivalent crime by a foreign court of competent jurisdiction which the Commission finds—

(A)

involves the purchase or sale of any security, the taking of a false oath, the making of a false report, bribery, perjury, burglary, any substantially equivalent activity however denominated by the laws of the relevant foreign government, or conspiracy to commit any such offense;

(B)

arises out of the conduct of the business of a broker, dealer, municipal securities dealer, investment adviser, bank, insurance company, government securities broker, government securities dealer, fiduciary, transfer agent, credit rating agency, foreign person performing a function substantially equivalent to any of the above, or entity or person required to be registered under the Commodity Exchange Act [7 U.S.C. 1 et seq.] or any substantially equivalent statute or regulation;

(C)

involves the larceny, theft, robbery, extortion, forgery, counterfeiting, fraudulent concealment, embezzlement, fraudulent conversion, or misappropriation of funds or securities or substantially equivalent activity however denominated by the laws of the relevant foreign government; or

(D)

involves the violation of section 152, 1341, 1342, or 1343 or chapter 25 or 47 of title 18, or a violation of 1

 So in original. Probably should be “of a”.

substantially equivalent foreign statute.

(3)

has been convicted during the 10-year period preceding the date of filing of any application for registration, or at any time thereafter, of—

(A)

any crime that is punishable by imprisonment for 1 or more years, and that is not described in paragraph (2); or

(B)

a substantially equivalent crime by a foreign court of competent jurisdiction.

(4)

is permanently or temporarily enjoined by order, judgment, or decree of any court of competent jurisdiction, including any foreign court of competent jurisdiction, from acting as an investment adviser, underwriter, broker, dealer, municipal securities dealer, government securities broker, government securities dealer, transfer agent, credit rating agency, foreign person performing a function substantially equivalent to any of the above, or entity or person required to be registered under the Commodity Exchange Act [7 U.S.C. 1 et seq.] or any substantially equivalent statute or regulation, or as an affiliated person or employee of any investment company, bank, insurance company, foreign entity substantially equivalent to any of the above, or entity or person required to be registered under the Commodity Exchange Act or any substantially equivalent statute or regulation, or from engaging in or continuing any conduct or practice in connection with any such activity, or in connection with the purchase or sale of any security.

(5)

has willfully violated any provision of the Securities Act of 1933 [15 U.S.C. 77a et seq.], the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 [15 U.S.C. 78a et seq.], subchapter I of this chapter, this subchapter, the Commodity Exchange Act [7 U.S.C. 1 et seq.], or the rules or regulations under any such statutes or any rule of the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board, or is unable to comply with any such provision.

(6)

has willfully aided, abetted, counseled, commanded, induced, or procured the violation by any other person of any provision of the Securities Act of 1933 [15 U.S.C. 77a et seq.], the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 [15 U.S.C. 78a et seq.], subchapter I of this chapter, this subchapter, the Commodity Exchange Act [7 U.S.C. 1 et seq.], the rules or regulations under any of such statutes, or the rules of the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board, or has failed reasonably to supervise, with a view to preventing violations of the provisions of such statutes, rules and regulations, another person who commits such a violation, if such other person is subject to his supervision. For the purposes of this paragraph no person shall be deemed to have failed reasonably to supervise any person, if—

(A)

there have been established procedures, and a system for applying such procedures, which would reasonably be expected to prevent and detect, insofar as practicable, any such violation by such other person, and

(B)

such person has reasonably discharged the duties and obligations incumbent upon him by reason of such procedures and system without reasonable cause to believe that such procedures and system were not being complied with.

(7)

is subject to any order of the Commission barring or suspending the right of the person to be associated with an investment adviser;

(8)

has been found by a foreign financial regulatory authority to have—

(A)

made or caused to be made in any application for registration or report required to be filed with a foreign securities authority, or in any proceeding before a foreign securities authority with respect to registration, any statement that was at the time and in light of the circumstances under which it was made false or misleading with respect to any material fact, or has omitted to state in any application or report to a foreign securities authority any material fact that is required to be stated therein;

(B)

violated any foreign statute or regulation regarding transactions in securities or contracts of sale of a commodity for future delivery traded on or subject to the rules of a contract market or any board of trade; or

(C)

aided, abetted, counseled, commanded, induced, or procured the violation by any other person of any foreign statute or regulation regarding transactions in securities or contracts of sale of a commodity for future delivery traded on or subject to the rules of a contract market or any board of trade, or has been found, by the foreign finanical 2

 So in original. Probably should be “financial”.

regulatory authority, to have failed reasonably to supervise, with a view to preventing violations of statutory provisions, and rules and regulations promulgated thereunder, another person who commits such a violation, if such other person is subject to his supervision; or

(9)

is subject to any final order of a State securities commission (or any agency or officer performing like functions), State authority that supervises or examines banks, savings associations, or credit unions, State insurance commission (or any agency or office performing like functions), an appropriate Federal banking agency (as defined in section 3 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1813(q))), or the National Credit Union Administration, that—

(A)

bars such person from association with an entity regulated by such commission, authority, agency, or officer, or from engaging in the business of securities, insurance, banking, savings association activities, or credit union activities; or

(B)

constitutes a final order based on violations of any laws or regulations that prohibit fraudulent, manipulative, or deceptive conduct.

(f)

Bar or suspension from association with investment adviser; notice and hearing

(g)

Registration of successor to business of investment adviser

(h)

Withdrawal of registration

(i)

Money penalties in administrative proceedings

(1)

Authority of Commission

(A)

In general

In any proceeding instituted pursuant to subsection (e) or (f) against any person, the Commission may impose a civil penalty if it finds, on the record after notice and opportunity for hearing, that such penalty is in the public interest and that such person—

(i)

(ii)

has willfully aided, abetted, counseled, commanded, induced, or procured such a violation by any other person;

(iii)

has willfully made or caused to be made in any application for registration or report required to be filed with the Commission under this subchapter, or in any proceeding before the Commission with respect to registration, any statement which was, at the time and in the light of the circumstances under which it was made, false or misleading with respect to any material fact, or has omitted to state in any such application or report any material fact which was required to be stated therein; or

(iv)

has failed reasonably to supervise, within the meaning of subsection (e)(6), with a view to preventing violations of the provisions of this subchapter and the rules and regulations thereunder, another person who commits such a violation, if such other person is subject to his supervision; 3

 So in original. The semicolon probably should be a period.

(B)

Cease-and-desist proceedings

In any proceeding instituted pursuant to subsection (k) against any person, the Commission may impose a civil penalty if the Commission finds, on the record, after notice and opportunity for hearing, that such person—

(i)

is violating or has violated any provision of this subchapter, or any rule or regulation issued under this subchapter; or

(ii)

is or was a cause of the violation of any provision of this subchapter, or any rule or regulation issued under this subchapter.

(2)

Maximum amount of penalty

(A)

First tier

(B)

Second tier

(C)

Third tier

Notwithstanding subparagraphs (A) and (B), the maximum amount of penalty for each such act or omission shall be $100,000 for a natural person or $500,000 for any other person if—

(i)

the act or omission described in paragraph (1) involved fraud, deceit, manipulation, or deliberate or reckless disregard of a regulatory requirement; and

(ii)

such act or omission directly or indirectly resulted in substantial losses or created a significant risk of substantial losses to other persons or resulted in substantial pecuniary gain to the person who committed the act or omission.

(3)

Determination of public interest

In considering under this section whether a penalty is in the public interest, the Commission may consider—

(A)

whether the act or omission for which such penalty is assessed involved fraud, deceit, manipulation, or deliberate or reckless disregard of a regulatory requirement;

(B)

the harm to other persons resulting either directly or indirectly from such act or omission;

(C)

the extent to which any person was unjustly enriched, taking into account any restitution made to persons injured by such behavior;

(D)

whether such person previously has been found by the Commission, another appropriate regulatory agency, or a self-regulatory organization to have violated the Federal securities laws, State securities laws, or the rules of a self-regulatory organization, has been enjoined by a court of competent jurisdiction from violations of such laws or rules, or has been convicted by a court of competent jurisdiction of violations of such laws or of any felony or misdemeanor described in subsection (e)(2);

(E)

the need to deter such person and other persons from committing such acts or omissions; and

(F)

such other matters as justice may require.

(4)

Evidence concerning ability to pay

(j)

Authority to enter order requiring accounting and disgorgement

(k)

Cease-and-desist proceedings

(1)

Authority of Commission

(2)

Hearing

(3)

Temporary order

(A)

In general

(B)

Applicability

(4)

Review of temporary orders

(A)

Commission review

(B)

Judicial review

Within—

(i)

10 days after the date the respondent was served with a temporary cease-and-desist order entered with a prior Commission hearing, or

(ii)

10 days after the Commission renders a decision on an application and hearing under subparagraph (A), with respect to any temporary cease-and-desist order entered without a prior Commission hearing,

the respondent may apply to the United States district court for the district in which the respondent resides or has its principal office or place of business, or for the District of Columbia, for an order setting aside, limiting, or suspending the effectiveness or enforcement of the order, and the court shall have jurisdiction to enter such an order. A respondent served with a temporary cease-and-desist order entered without a prior Commission hearing may not apply to the court except after hearing and decision by the Commission on the respondent’s application under subparagraph (A) of this paragraph.

(C)

No automatic stay of temporary order

(D)

Exclusive review

(5)

Authority to enter order requiring accounting and disgorgement

(l)

Exemption of venture capital fund advisers

(1)

In general

(2)

Advisers of SBICS

(3)

Advisers of RBICS

(m)

Exemption of and reporting by certain private fund advisers

(1)

In general

(2)

Reporting

(3)

Advisers of SBICS

(4)

Advisers of RBICS

(n)

Registration and examination of mid-sized private fund advisers

(Aug. 22, 1940, ch. 686, title II, § 203, 54 Stat. 850; Pub. L. 86–750, §§ 2–5, Sept. 13, 1960, 74 Stat. 885, 886; Pub. L. 91–547, § 24, Dec. 14, 1970, 84 Stat. 1430; Pub. L. 94–29, § 29(1)–(4), June 4, 1975, 89 Stat. 166–169; Pub. L. 96–477, title II, § 202, Oct. 21, 1980, 94 Stat. 2290; Pub. L. 99–571, title I, § 102(m), Oct. 28, 1986, 100 Stat. 3220; Pub. L. 100–181, title VII, § 702, Dec. 4, 1987, 101 Stat. 1263; Pub. L. 101–429, title IV, § 401, Oct. 15, 1990, 104 Stat. 946; Pub. L. 101–550, title II, § 205(b), (c), Nov. 15, 1990,

cite as: 15 USC 80b-3