5 Questions for Charlie Eaton on Placement Agent Lobbying Association
A group of around two dozen placement agents have formed a lobbying group, to address state and federal efforts to ban their usage by PE/VC firms trying to raise capital from from public pension systems. The group has retained MultiState Associates to do the regulatory glad-handing, and is being spearheaded by C.P. Eaton Partners and Atlantic-Pacific Capital. I spent some time on the phone this morning with C.P. Eaton founder Charlie Eaton, to learn more about the group's objectives and structure. What follows is an edited transcript: Is this group supposed to be around for the long haul, or is it more a short-term creation to deal with immediate issues at the state and federal level? Eaton: We haven’t thought beyond the current issues. I think we assume we might have to work on this all year, and if we can address and get a favorable outcome in New York, then perhaps it would create a precedent that would be used in states like Illinois and New Mexico, which both have bans in certain jurisdictions. We always knew the SEC would get involved, so that would be part of the program as well. We may not need to keep this coalition together after that, although we could obviously continue discussions and commiserate more informally.
