private funds Archives - Americans for Financial Reform

News Release: Several Organizations Commend SEC for New Private Fund Rules that will Better Protect and Empower Retirees

Several organizations today joined together to express support for the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) rule last week that would better protect retirees and savers from the lack of transparency in the $25 trillion private fund industry that has allowed it to overcharge its investors for decades.

The new rules from the SEC’s will require that private funds – primarily private equity and hedge funds – must disclose all their fees and expenses in a clearer, standardized fashion so that investors on behalf of retirees and savers more clearly see what they are being charged for, and can better use this new information to negotiate against their fund advisers or take their money elsewhere.

News Release: New SEC Private Fund Rules Can Help Stop Ripoff of Retirement Savers

Washington, D.C. – New investor protections announced today by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have the potential to curb widespread practices that have allowed Wall Street’s $25 trillion private fund industry to harvest tens of billions in fees at the expense of public pensions, retirees, and other savers – all to the advantage of some of the richest people in the world.

Blog Post: The Exponential Growth of Private Credit: Risky and Nearly Invisible

Since the Great Financial Crisis of 2008, one of the murkiest corners of the financial market – private credit – has exploded in size as investors chase higher returns. Private credit, also referred to as non-bank direct lending, has become the fastest area of growth in corporate lending.

Letters to Regulators: Letter to the SEC on Finalizing a Strong Set of Rules to Better Protect Investors in Private Funds

Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund and 12 other signers submitted a letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission reiterating the need for the SEC to finalize a strong set of rules to better protect investors in private funds, which include hedge funds and private equity.

Letters to Regulators: Letter From 29 Signers to the SEC on Passing Strong Final Rules on Private Fund Advisers to Protect Investors and the Financial System

AFREF led a letter with 29 signers to the Securities and Exchange Commission reiterating the important need to pass a strong set of final rules related to requiring private fund advisers to disclose a complete breakdown of fees/expenses, assumptions used to calculate returns, and the existence of side letters to investors.

The letter is also urging the SEC to finalize a strong set of rules related to requiring private fund advisers over a certain size to report more detailed information about their holdings confidentially to the SEC so that the SEC and other financial regulatory agencies have much greater insight into the risks in the $21 trillion private fund space where there is currently little visibility in order to better safeguard the financial system.

Letters to Regulators: Letter to the SEC and CFTC on Proposed Amendments to Form PF

AFREF sent a letter in support of proposals from both the Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission that would provide the agencies and by extension the Financial Stability Oversight Council with additional information from the $18 trillion private fund industry related to: more specific details about their holdings in digital assets, more granular data around derivatives and swaps that reference corporate debt and information about the base currencies their holdings are denominated in. Such information will help regulators ensure that they have a clearer picture into the holdings and risks posed by the $18 trillion private fund industry in order to be able to react proactively to any risks that may threaten the financial system.

Fact Sheet: Summary of SEC’s Private Funds Proposals

AFREF released a fact sheet summarizing the SEC’s two sets of rule proposals that will
provide investors and regulators with greater transparency into several aspects of the $18 trillion private fund industry.

News Release: SEC Must Step Up Enforcement of Rules on Private Funds

The Securities and Exchange Commission should use the full scope of its authority to increase transparency and reduce hidden risks to investors and markets from the private equity industry, according to a letter from 15 public interest groups.

Letters to the Regulators: AFREF Letter to the SEC On Addressing Private Equity’s Abuses

AFREF alongside 14 other signers submitted a letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) raising several abuses from the private equity industry and ways the Commission can directly address them

Letter to the Regulators: letter from 26 organizations to the Department of Labor urging reconsideration of guidance allowing retirement plans to invest in Private Equity

26 organizations, led by the Consumer Federation of America urge reconsideration of the DOL policy allowing defined contribution plans to invest in private equity funds. Issues raised to the DOL over its original letter considering allowing such funds into private equity include: It fails to give