Form PF and the Private Fund Rules in 2026: Vacated, Delayed, and Proposed
Updated October 2026. First published February 2024.
The first version of this post covered the Form PF amendments the SEC and CFTC adopted on February 8, 2024, and said they would take effect a year after publication. Advisers still don't have to comply. The compliance date has moved four times and now sits at July 1, 2027, and in April 2026 the agencies proposed to cut back the form. Meanwhile, a federal appeals court threw out the SEC's separate private fund adviser rules in June 2024.
Three rule sets get mixed up in conversations about private fund reporting. Here is what each one did and where it stands as of October 2026.
Three Rule Sets, Three Outcomes
| Rule set | Adopted | Status, October 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Form PF event reporting (current reports for large hedge fund advisers, quarterly event reports for private equity advisers) | May 3, 2023 | In effect since December 2023. The April 2026 proposal would drop some of it. |
| Form PF expanded reporting, adopted jointly with the CFTC | February 8, 2024 | Compliance not yet required. Compliance date July 1, 2027. |
| Private fund adviser rules (quarterly statements, audits, restricted activities, preferential treatment, adviser-led secondaries) | August 23, 2023 | Vacated by the Fifth Circuit on June 5, 2024 |
The 2023 Event Reports Are the Ones in Force
Under the May 2023 amendments, a large hedge fund adviser files a current report "as soon as practicable, but not later than 72 hours" after a trigger event. The triggers include extraordinary investment losses, "significant margin and default events," "terminations or material restrictions of prime broker relationships," operations events, and events tied to withdrawals and redemptions. Private equity advisers file event reports within 60 days of quarter-end for events such as removing a general partner, certain fund terminations, and adviser-led secondary transactions. These requirements took effect six months after publication, in December 2023.
The prime broker trigger is the part that reaches the sell side. If a prime broker terminates or materially restricts a large hedge fund client's relationship, the adviser may have 72 hours to report it to the SEC. The filing is the adviser's, not the prime broker's, but it means the adviser's compliance team needs to hear about the restriction quickly and in writing. A margin call the fund can't meet can trigger a report too.
The 2024 Amendments Keep Slipping
The February 2024 amendments asked for more detail from all filers and much more from large hedge fund advisers: exposures, borrowing, counterparties, risk metrics, portfolio liquidity, and performance by strategy. The original compliance date was March 12, 2025. The agencies extended it to June 12, 2025, then to October 1, 2025, then to October 1, 2026. On August 31, 2026, they extended it again, to July 1, 2027, so they can work through comments on the April 2026 proposal. Until then, advisers keep filing the version of Form PF in effect before the 2024 amendments.
The April 2026 Proposal
On April 20, 2026, the SEC and CFTC proposed to shrink Form PF. According to the SEC's fact sheet, the proposal would:
- raise the filing threshold for all filers from $150 million in private fund assets under management to $1 billion;
- raise the large hedge fund adviser threshold from $1.5 billion in hedge fund assets under management to $10 billion;
- eliminate certain current reporting for large hedge fund advisers, and quarterly event reporting for all private equity fund advisers;
- drop some "look through" and performance volatility reporting, and simplify large hedge fund counterparty exposure reporting.
The comment period closed in June 2026 (file S7-2026-13). As of October 2026, the proposal hasn't been adopted. The fact sheet doesn't say which current reports would go, so check the final release for the prime broker trigger in particular.
The Private Fund Adviser Rules Are Gone
The SEC adopted its private fund adviser rules on August 23, 2023. They would have required quarterly statements to investors, annual fund audits, restrictions on certain adviser activities and fees, fairness opinions for adviser-led secondaries, and limits on preferential treatment of some investors.
On June 5, 2024, the Fifth Circuit vacated the whole package in National Association of Private Fund Managers v. SEC. The court held that the SEC "exceeded its statutory authority," because section 211(h) of the Advisers Act applies to "retail customers," not private fund investors, and it concluded that "no part of it can stand." The SEC's October 2024 announcement confirms that the amendments to the recordkeeping rule (204-2) and the compliance rule (206(4)-7) adopted with the package were vacated too, including the new requirement to document the annual compliance review in writing.
What This Means If You Serve Private Funds
- Prime brokers: tell the adviser in writing, and promptly, when you terminate or materially restrict a relationship or when a margin event occurs. Your client may have a 72-hour filing clock that starts with your notice.
- Everyone: don't plan around the 2024 amendments until the agencies finish the April 2026 proposal. The form they adopt in the end may look different from both.
Our post on what happened to the SEC's 2023 rulemaking agenda covers the other rules adopted in the same period.
This post is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. For guidance on specific regulatory obligations, consult your counsel or compliance advisor.