Developing and Empowering our Aspiring Leaders Act of 2025
Key claim: The Developing and Empowering our Aspiring Leaders Act of 2025 (HR4429) directs the SEC to revise venture-capital regulations so that secondary transactions and investments in other venture capital funds count as qualifying investments, provided a fund’s investments remain predominantly direct or in other VC funds.
Abstract
(HR4429 · 119th Congress) Developing and Empowering our Aspiring Leaders Act of 2025 This bill directs the Securities and Exchange Commission to revise venture capital investment regulations to allow additional types of investments to be considered as qualifying investments. Venture capital funds are exempt from certain regulations applicable to other investment firms, including those related to filings, audits, and restricted communications with investors. Under current regulations, non-qualifying investments—which include secondary transactions and investments in other venture capital funds—may comprise up to 20% of a venture capital fund. The bill allows investments acquired through secondary transactions or investments in other venture capital funds to be considered as qualifying investments for venture capital funds. However, for a private fund to qualify as a venture capital fund, the fund’s investments must predominately (1) be acquired directly, or (2) be investments in other venture capital funds. Latest action (2025-12-02): Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
Why this matters
The bill would expand the SEC’s venture-capital fund exemption by broadening what counts as a qualifying investment, letting VC advisers buy secondaries and invest in other VC funds without losing their exempt-reporting status. For fund managers and LPs this eases liquidity and fund-of-funds structuring; for the SEC it narrows the boundary between exempt VC advisers and fully registered private fund advisers.