Ex-SEC Chairman Says Private Fund Plan Goes Too Far: SEC Roundup

Welcome to SEC Roundup, a bimonthly video series by Paul Hastings partners and former Securities and Exchange Commission senior trial counsels Nick Morgan and Tom Zaccaro exploring current SEC topics with thought leaders and industry experts.

In this episode, Morgan and Zaccaro talk with former SEC Chairman Harvey Pitt, now CEO of Kalorama Partners in Washington, on the SEC’s recently proposed rule on private funds. The SEC has reopened the comment period on the plan until June 13.

Pitt argues that the SEC’s plan amounts to an “overreach” by the agency, and that the proposed rule “prohibits certain relationships” that traditionally are handled under the securities laws by disclosure. “This proposal will be reviewed by the courts, there’s no doubt,” Pitt says.

Pitt recently wrote an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal on the private funds proposal, Sophisticated Private Investors Don’t Need the SEC’s Protection.

See the video above for the discussion with Pitt.