On December 4, 2015, President Obama signed into law the SBIC Advisers Relief Act (the “Act” as part of H.R. 22, the Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act of 2015—the FAST Act). The Act amends three provisions of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as amended (the “Advisers Act”) relating to an exemption from investment adviser registration for advisers to SBIC funds and state regulatory authority with respect to such SBIC fund advisers. The long awaited Act grants important relief for many SBIC fund advisers that either remain registered with, or report to, the SEC despite the availability of the SBIC fund adviser exemption created by The Dodd Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (the “SBIC Fund Adviser Exemption”).1 The Advisers Act amendments, their impact and important next steps are discussed below.
