Silicon Valley Attorney Jonathan Axelrad on What Geithner's Remarks Really Mean for VCs
As everyone in the industry now knows, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner proposed yesterday that many hedge funds, private equity firms and venture capital firms be required to register with the SEC. The proposal was lacking in any true details, but VCs and the NVCA are already up in arms, fearful that the Treasury Department will embrace some, if not all, of the suggestions outlined in a January bill introduced by Senators Charles Grassley and Carl Levin -- legislation that could subject private fund managers to additional SEC oversight as well as additional compliance and disclosure regulations under the Investment Company Act and the Investment Advisers Act. To get a better handle on what the Valley is doing to prepare itself for the additional regulations it may be facing, I chatted with Jonathan Axelrad, a renowned attorney who helps form venture funds, as well as sorts out their internal affairs, from the Menlo Park office of the law firm Goodwin Proctor.
