SEC Fines 13 Private Fund Advisors Over Form PF Failures

The Securities and Exchange Commission said Friday that it had fined 13 RIAs who advised private funds $75,000 each for “repeatedly” failing to file annual reports.

The SEC orders against the advisors found that they failed to file annual reports on Form PF informing the agency about the private funds they advise, including the amount of assets under management, fund strategy, performance, and use of borrowed money and derivatives.

Private fund advisors managing $150 million or more of assets have been required to make annual filings on Form PF since 2012.  The orders found that the 13 advisors were delinquent in their filings over multi-year periods.

The advisors’ “repeated reporting failures deprived the SEC of important information they were required by law to provide,” said Anthony Kelly, co-chief of the SEC Enforcement Division’s Asset Management Unit, encouraging RIAs “to take a fresh look at whether they are meeting their reporting obligations and adjust their compliance programs accordingly.”

The SEC’s orders find that the advisors violated the reporting requirements of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940.

Without admitting or denying the findings, the advisors agreed to be censured, to cease and desist, and to each pay a $75,000 civil penalty.

During the course of the SEC’s investigation, the advisors also remediated their failures by making the necessary filings, according to the SEC.

The SEC’s orders were filed against:

Bachrach Asset Management Inc.

Biglari Capital LLC

Brahma Management Ltd.