The bombshell in the Dodd-Frank Act for family offices was the revocation of the “less-than-15-client exemption” for private investment advisers. That rule allowed single-family offices to avoid registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, and the disclosures and costs that come with it.
http://www.investmentnews.com/article/20120129/REG/301299981