Jenna Gottlieb

After a busy regulatory season in the US, it appears European efforts for reform will pick up speed this fall.

Bruce Malott, a board member with New Mexico's Educational Retirement Board, took a personal loan from the father of a placement agent doing business with the pension.

The Golden State is set to become an even more challenging fundraising destination for private equity managers with a new rule that will require placement agents to register as lobbyists.

Placement agents that work with California’s public pension funds will be required to register as lobbyists, putting an end to fees based on the success of a fundraising.

The pension’s head of alternative investments, already on administrative leave, has resigned amid an ongoing placement agent investigation.

The Washington State Investment Board’s private equity team will seek to replace Brian Roberts, who is leaving the pension fund next week.

The $14bn system revealed a placement agent, Glen Sergeon, with a connection to its former CIO, did more work than any other agent since 2004. The pension found no evidence of pay-to-play activities.

The pre-2008 trips - arranged by private equity and real estate GPs - related only to firms in which the US pension owned a management stake or on whose LP advisory boards it sat.

A recent ruling could set a precedent for GPs considering taking action over LP defaults, writes Jenna Gottlieb.

A pending state bill that would force placement agents to register as lobbyists would create two sets of registration, reporting and compliance policies.