Overview

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Release No. IA-1705

Notice of Intention to Cancel Registrations of Certain Investment Advisers

March 9, 1998
Notice is given that the Securities and Exchange Commission intends to issue orders, pursuant to section 203(h) of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 ("Advisers Act"), cancelling the registrations of those investment advisers whose names appear in the attached Appendix.

Webmaster Note:   The Appendix has been removed from the site because the listing that it contained was no longer valid.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Catherine M. Saadeh, Staff Attorney, at (202) 942-0650, Task Force on Investment Adviser Regulation, Division of Investment Management, Stop 5-6, Securities and Exchange Commission, 450 Fifth Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20549.

BACKGROUND:

On October 11, 1996, President Clinton signed into law the National Securities Markets Improvement Act of 1996 ("Improvement Act").1 Title III of the Improvement Act, the Investment Advisers Supervision Coordination Act ("Coordination Act"), amended the Advisers Act to reallocate federal and state responsibilities for the regulation of the approximately 23,350 investment advisers registered with the Commission at the time the legislation was signed. Under new section 203A(a) of the Advisers Act,2 an investment adviser that is regulated or required to be regulated as an investment adviser in the state in which it maintains its principal office and place of business is prohibited from registering with the Commission unless the adviser (i) has assets under management of not less than $25(or such higher amount as the Commission, by rule, deems appropriate), or (ii)an adviser to an investment company registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940.3

The Coordination Act also amended section 203(h) of the Advisers Act to authorize the Commission to cancel the registration of any investment adviser that no longer meets the criteria for registration.4 As amended, section 203(h) provides, in pertinent part, that if the Commission finds that any person registered with the Commission as an investment adviser is no longer in existence, is not engaged in business as an investment adviser, or is prohibited from registering as an investment adviser under section 203A, the Commission shall, by order, cancel the registration of such person. The Coordination Act became effective on July 8, 1997.5

To implement the division of regulatory responsibility mandated by the Coordination Act, the Commission adopted Form ADV-T.6 Form ADV-T required investment advisers to declare by July 8, 1997 whether they would continue to be eligible for Commission registration under the new regulatory scheme. For advisers that indicated that they were no longer eligible for Commission registration, filing of Form ADV-T served as such advisers' request for withdrawal from registration.7 In the release adopting Form ADV-T and other rules to implement the Coordination Act, the Commission stated that advisers that did not return Form ADV-T would be subject to having their registrations cancelled pursuant to section 203(h).8

In May 1997, the Commission mailed copies of Form ADV-T to all investment advisers then registered with the Commission.9 In October 1997, the Commission mailed additional copies of Form ADV-T to the 5,426 advisers that had not filed Form ADV-T, accompanied by a letter notifying them that they must file Form ADV-T by December 15, 1997 or their investment adviser registrations with the Commission would be cancelled without further notice.

As of February 20, 1998, the 5,092 Commission-registered investment advisers listed in the Appendix have not filed a Form ADV-T with the Commission. Based on the facts above, the Commission finds that these registrants are no longer in existence, are not engaged in business as investment advisers, or are prohibited from registering as investment advisers under section 203A. Accordingly, at any time after April 30, 1998, the Commission may issue orders cancelling the registrations of any or all of the investment advisers listed in the Appendix.

Any investment adviser listed in the Appendix that has previously filed a Form ADV-T with the Commission and believes its name has been included in the Appendix in error must make a formal written objection to the cancellation of its registration prior to April 30, 1998. Written objections must be mailed to: Investment Adviser Cancellation Objections, Task Force on Investment Adviser Regulation, Division of Investment Management, Stop 5-6, Securities and Exchange Commission, 450 Fifth Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20549, or sent via facsimile to (202) 942-9659, Attention: Investment Adviser Cancellation Objections. Written objections must be received by the Commission by April 30, 1998.

Any investment adviser listed in the Appendix that wishes to file a Form ADV-T may do so by April 30, 1998. The registrations of advisers whose Form ADV-Ts are received by the Commission by April 30, 1998 will not be cancelled.10 Copies of Form ADV-T may be obtained by contacting the Commission's Publication Office at (202) 942-4046.

By the Commission.

Jonathan G. Katz

Secretary

March 9, 1998

Footnotes

1
Pub. L. No. 104-290, 110 Stat. 3416 (1996) (codified in scattered sections of the United States Code).

2
15 U.S.C. 80b-3a(a).

3 The Commission was given authority in section 203A(c) of the Advisers Act to exempt investment advisers, by rule or order, from the prohibition on Commission registration if the prohibition would be "unfair, a burden on interstate commerce, or otherwise inconsistent with the purposes" of section 203A. 15 U.S.C. 80b-3a(c). Under its authority, the Commission adopted rule 203A-2 under the Advisers Act, which permits nationally recognized statistical rating organizations and certain pension consultants, affiliated investment advisers, and newly formed investment advisers to register with the Commission even if they otherwise would not meet the criteria for registration in section 203A(a). 17 CFR 275.203A-2.

4
15 U.S.C. 80b-3(h).

5See section 308(a) of the Coordination Act. The effective date of the Coordination Act was originally April 9, 1997. On March 31, 1997, President Clinton signed into law Pub. L. No. 105-8, which postponed the effective date of the Coordination Act to July 8, 1997.
See 111 Stat. 15 (1997).

6See Rules Implementing Amendments to the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, Investment Advisers Act Release No. 1633 (May 15, 1997) [62 FR 28112 (May 22, 1997)] ("Adopting Release").

7See rule 203A-5(c) [17 CFR 275.203A-5(c)]; Instruction 6 to Form ADV-T.

8See Adopting Release, supra note 6, at text accompanying notes 17 and 23. The instructions to Form ADV-T contained a similar statement. See Instruction 1(f) to Form ADV-T.

9
The Commission mailed the Form ADV-Ts to the address provided by each investment adviser on their Form ADV. These addresses were assumed to be current, as investment advisers are required to update Form ADV promptly for any address changes. See Instruction 10 to Form ADV.

10
The registrations of investment advisers that indicate on Form ADV-T that they are no longer eligible to register with the Commission will be withdrawn.