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Private Equity Compliance Professionals

History

The private equity industry was largely unregulated for decades, but in the 2000s, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) began to take a closer look at the industry as a result of accusations of improper fees and compliance violations. In 2010, Congress passed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which requires all private equity firms with more than $150 million in assets under management to register with the SEC and to hire a chief compliance officer to create and monitor a compliance program, disclose more information about investor agreements, and submit to regular SEC inspections, among other rules. Professional services firm PwC believes that the long-term impact of the regulation and oversight “will be significant—becoming a regulated entity represents a significant transition, requiring changes in the design and implementation of controls, the development and implementation of a compliance program, as well as in staffing and record-keeping.”

The passage of Dodd-Frank has created strong demand for compliance professionals. In 2020, US News & World Report selected the career of compliance officer as the 16th-best business job in the United States.