(a) Availability. The exemption from investment adviser and investment adviser representative registration provided by the Texas Securities Act, §5.H, or this section is not available if the financial institution or other institutional investor named therein is in fact acting only as agent for another purchaser that is not a financial institution or other institutional investor listed in §5.H or this section. These exemptions are available only if the financial institution or other institutional investor named therein is acting for its own account or as a bona fide trustee of a trust organized and existing other than for the purpose of acquiring the investment advisory services for which the investment adviser or investment adviser representative is claiming the exemption. For purposes of this section, an investment adviser or investment adviser representative that is providing investment advisory services to a corporation, general partnership, limited partnership, limited liability company, trust or other legal entity, other than a private fund (as that term is defined in §139.23 of this title (relating to Registration Exemption for Investment Advisers to Private Funds)), is not providing investment advisory services to a shareholder, general partner, member, other security holder, beneficiary or other beneficial owner of the legal entity unless the investment adviser provides investment advisory services to such owner separate and apart from the investment advisory services provided to the legal entity.     
      (b) Investment advice rendered to certain institutional investors. The State Securities Board, pursuant to the Act, §5.T and §12.C, exempts from the investment adviser and investment adviser representative registration requirements of the Act, persons who render investment advisory services to any of the following:      
        (1) an "institutional accredited investor," as that term is defined in §107.2 of this title (relating to Definitions);       
        (2) any "qualified institutional buyer," as that term is defined in §107.2 of this title (relating to Definitions); and       
        (3) a corporation, partnership, trust, estate, or other entity (excluding individuals) having net worth of not less than $5 million, or a wholly-owned subsidiary of such entity.       
      (c) Exclusions from exemption. There is no exemption under this section for an investment adviser providing investment advisory services to a natural person. A private fund adviser, as that term is defined in §139.23 of this title (relating to Registration Exemption for Investment Advisers to Private Funds), may not rely on this exemption except as provided in subsection (e) of this section.     
      (d) Financial statements. For purposes of determining an institutional investor's total assets or net worth under this section, an investment adviser or investment adviser representative may rely upon the entity's most recent annual balance sheet or other financial statement which shall have been audited by an independent accountant or which shall have been verified by a principal of the institutional investor.     
      (e) Grandfathering. An investment adviser to a private fund, as that term is defined in §139.23 of this title (relating to Registration Exemption for Investment Advisers to Private Funds), may nonetheless qualify for the exemption described in subsection (b) of this section if:      
        (1) the private fund existed prior to March 31, 2014;       
        (2) the investment adviser qualified for the exemption in subsection (b) of this section as modified by subsection (c) of this section as both subsections existed prior to March 31, 2014; and       
        (3) as of March 31, 2014, the private fund ceases to accept new beneficial owners.       
     Source Note:        The provisions of this §109.6 adopted to be effective July 14, 2005, 30 TexReg 3987; amended to be effective March 31, 2014, 39 TexReg 491; amended to be effective March 21, 2021, 46 TexReg 1733