The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC ) delayed expanded private fund reporting rules by nine months. The joint rule took effect today (Thursday).
The new date is July 1, 2027. Advisers may use the current Form PF until then, replacing the previous October 1, 2026 deadline.
The agencies are considering replacing parts of the requirements adopted in 2024. At the latest count cited by the SEC, the pending rewrite could remove about 1,700 advisers from the filing population and ease quarterly reporting for 390 hedge fund managers.
The filings are not public. Form PF helps regulators monitor leverage, exposures and possible stress in private funds.
It covers certain SEC-registered advisers, including firms also registered with the CFTC as commodity pool operators or commodity trading advisers. The Financial Stability Oversight Council also uses the data.
Fourth Delay Leaves 2024 Rules on Hold
The agencies adopted the expanded reporting regime in February 2024. Its original compliance date was March 12, 2025.
That deadline did not hold. The agencies moved it to June 12, 2025, then October 1, 2025 and finally October 1, 2026.
This fourth extension adds another nine months. The joint final rule said the agencies need time to review comments on a different set of amendments proposed in April.
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SEC Chairman Paul Atkins said the additional time was practical and necessary while staff consider a final version. The SEC and CFTC said the pause could prevent advisers from spending money on reporting systems for requirements that may be modified or eliminated.
The 2024 amendments sought more consistent data across private funds. Large hedge fund advisers would provide more detail about investment exposures, borrowing, counterparty risk and performance.
FinanceMagnates.com covered the original proposal in 2022, including plans to collect cryptocurrency exposure and liquidity data.
Threshold Changes Would Cut Filing Population
Under the current rules, SEC-registered advisers generally file Form PF if they manage at least $150 million in private fund assets. The April 2026 proposal would lift that threshold to $1 billion.
The SEC estimates the change would reduce the number of filers from 3,999 to about 2,280. That is 43% fewer advisers, while coverage of gross private fund assets would fall from approximately 96% to 94%, a decline of 2 percentage points.
A separate threshold determines which hedge fund advisers face quarterly reporting and the more detailed sections of the form. Raising it from $1.5 billion to $10 billion would reduce the large-adviser group from 617 firms to 227.
The other 390 advisers would generally report annually and would no longer complete Section 2 or submit certain current event reports. The SEC estimated a $49,875 reduction in ongoing compliance costs per filing for an adviser that falls out of the large category.
Commissioner Hester Peirce said in April that Form PF "generates a lot of data at great expense." She argued that the form had expanded beyond its original purpose of helping regulators monitor systemic risk.
Lower Costs Come With Less Regulatory Data
The proposed thresholds would preserve most asset coverage because assets are concentrated among the largest managers. However, the share of hedge fund assets managed by advisers in the large category would drop from 92% to 81%.
More detailed Section 2 reporting would cover 74% of hedge fund assets, down from 84%. The SEC said smaller funds could experience liquidity stress earlier or carry correlated positions that create risks when viewed together.
Delaying compliance also leaves regulators with less information. The SEC and the Financial Stability Oversight Council will not receive the additional data during the extension, including if a period of market stress occurs.
Private fund managers have previously pushed back against broader SEC oversight. Six trade groups challenged a separate private fund rule package in 2023, arguing that the SEC exceeded its authority and imposed unnecessary costs.
Atkins has placed reviews of existing rules on the SEC's wider agenda. A draft strategy published in June also proposed narrower enforcement priorities and wider access to private markets.
Form PF filers may continue using the current version of the report. Unless the agencies change the rule again, the 2024 amendments will apply from July 1, 2027.
