In the wake of the financial crisis, the US Securities and Exchange Commission adopted detailed data reporting rules for private funds on both Form ADV (2010) and Form PF (2011). In its continuing push to gather more asset management industry data, agency officials have been hinting for months that portfolio-level reports on investment adviser separate accounts and registered investment companies would be next. The agency now intends to close these perceived gaps through a pair of rule proposals that it announced on May 20, 2015.

What does the SEC do with the data it collects? The agency says better data allows it to more effectively monitor industry trends and assess risk, focus its examinations, conduct investigations and, when necessary, bring enforcement actions. Collecting more industry data also serves the SEC’s political interest in protecting its position against other financial regulators. Lest anyone miss that point, the agency opens the registered investment company reporting proposal with the unqualified assertion that “the Commission is the primary regulator of the asset management industry.”