It's Official: Obama Signs Financial Reform Bill

By Mary Beth Hamilton | Wednesday, July 21st, 2010

As expected, on Wednesday, July 21, 2010, President Obama signed the Financial Reform Act, which introduces new regulations for hedge funds and private equity firms. Among other things, the bill gives new authority to the federal government to monitor financial firms that have the potential to pose a systemic risk, and when necessary, seize and wind down troubled financial firms. The greater oversight is helped along by requiring hedge funds and private equity firms with greater than $150 million in AUM to register with the SEC.

Hedge Fund & PE Regulation Resources

We've created a Financial Reform Bill Resources page to help hedge funds and private equity firms prepare for registration. The new bill states that advisers must comply with the new provisions within one year of enactment of the conference report. Of course, you can register earlier with the SEC.

Check it out.

Planning Ahead: Technology Requirements for Compliance

Here's a snapshot of what the new regulation means from a technology perspective.

Requirement

Solution

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Data Retention & Archiving

SEC advises registered firms to retain all internal and external electronic communications
Required by NASD Rule 3500 Series & NYSE Rule 446

Eze Archiving

Archives messages in SEC-compliant format
Features easy searching and recovery for rapid response to discovery inquiries
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Disaster Recovery

President's Working Group Report advises firms to establish a disaster recovery and business continuity plan to mitigate risks and meet industry best practices

Eze Disaster Recovery

Fulfills regulatory and investors' requirements for data protection and continuous availability
Proven and cost-effective DR solution used by industry's largest hedge funds
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Business Continuity Planning

Recommended operational component by SEC and investors to mitigate continuity risks and protect business

Eze BCP

Beyond IT operations, BCP focuses on critical operations and processes
Includes Risk Assessment, Business Impact Analysis, Plan/Strategy Development and Testing/Training
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eze business continuity planning overview

MA Privacy Compliance Law (201 CMR 17.00)

Requires any company that owns, licenses, stores or maintains personal information about MA residents to develop a WISP and deploy security safeguards