Before closing the books on 2019, registered investment advisers and funds should take a look back at the activity undertaken by the SEC and its staff in the past year and carefully consider steps to be taken to implement new...more
On June 5, 2019, the SEC issued an Interpretive Release designed to “reaffirm, and in some cases clarify, the standard of conduct that investment advisers owe to their clients.” The Interpretive Release highlights existing...more
The Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (the “Advisers Act”) is the shortest of the federal securities laws enacted after the Great Depression, and the SEC has adopted relatively few regulations under the Advisers Act. As any...more
6/13/2019
/ Advertising ,
Advisory Contracts ,
Business Continuity Plans ,
Cash Solicitation Rule ,
Compliance ,
Cybersecurity ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Advisers Act of 1940 ,
Marketing ,
OCIE ,
Pay-To-Play ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
The SEC’s new Risk Alert provides valuable insight as to what the OCIE wants to see broker dealers and investment advisers accomplish with their privacy notices and their cybersecurity policies and procedures. The SEC wants...more
On March 11, 2019, the SEC announced settlements with 79 investment advisers who self-reported violations of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (the “Advisers Act”) in connection with the Division of Enforcement’s Share...more
In December 2018, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) published its fifth and last risk alert of 2018 on the topic of electronic messaging by personnel of...more
In a recently settled enforcement matter, the SEC imposed a $1 million penalty on an investment adviser based on findings that the adviser violated the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (the “Advisers Act”) and caused...more
On July 11, 2018, the SEC’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) published a Risk Alert identifying the most common deficiencies that its staff observed in recent examinations of registered investment...more
SEC FINES BROKER-DEALER FOR EARLY RESALES OF STRUCTURED NOTES -
On June 25, 2018, the SEC announced that a broker-dealer settled charges relating to inappropriate resales of structured notes. The SEC determined that the...more
On June 1, 2018 the SEC announced that it entered into settled enforcement proceedings with 13 registered investment advisers. According to the settled orders, the advisers failed to file and update Form PF over multi-year...more
In the third release comprising part of the package of proposed rules and forms related to broker-dealers’ and investment advisers’ standards of conduct, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC or the “Commission”)...more
On May 1, the SEC’s Division of Enforcement issued a series of frequently asked questions (FAQs) related to its Share Class Selection Disclosure Initiative (“SCSD Initiative”). The SCSD Initiative, which was originally...more
According to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC or “Commission”), its April 18, 2018 release proposing an interpretation of the standard of conduct for investment advisers (“Adviser Conduct Release”) is intended to...more
Background -
For many years, the distinction between investment advisers and broker-dealers was clear: investment advisers were counselors who were expected to provide advice that was in the best interest of their clients,...more
At an open meeting held earlier today, April 18, 2018, the SEC voted 4-1 to propose a package of rules, forms, and guidance designed to define a new “best interest” standard of care for broker-dealers dealing with retail...more
The SEC’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) this week provided investment advisers with a summary of frequent compliance issues related to advisory fees and expenses that the staff is seeing in their...more
As summer recedes and we head into the autumn, investment advisers are in the home stretch of preparations for Form ADV reporting and disclosure changes that become effective October 1, 2017. The amendments, which were...more
In a letter to the Investment Adviser Association (IAA), the Staff of the Division of Investment Management said that investment advisers acting pursuant to a standing letter of instruction or other similar asset transfer...more
In a new Risk Alert, OCIE’s National Exam Program provided investment advisers with insight into the five compliance topics most frequently identified in its exam deficiency letters. Registered investment advisers should...more
REGULATION -
DOL Issues Additional Guidance on Fiduciary Rule -
On January 13, 2017, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued a second set of guidance on its new fiduciary rules, which are scheduled to become...more
2/2/2017
/ Attorney-Client Privilege ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Brokers ,
Capital Acquisition Broker (CAB) ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Cross-Selling ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Examination Priorities ,
Exploitation ,
Fiduciary Rule ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Investment Adviser ,
Liquidity Risk Management Rule ,
Mutual Funds ,
OCIE ,
Pay-To-Play ,
Sales Load Variations ,
Section 36(b) ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Swing Pricing ,
Trustees
The SEC banned the managing member and chief compliance officer of a registered investment adviser from the securities industry for illegal “cherry-picking” investments among the adviser’s managed accounts. The SEC staff...more
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently amended Form ADV to require investment advisers to disclose more information about their separately managed account business, aggregate data related to the use of...more
9/1/2016
/ Asset Class ,
Books & Records ,
Borrowers ,
Custodians ,
Derivatives ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Form ADV ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Advisers Act of 1940 ,
Private Equity ,
RAUM ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Umbrella Registration
In a series of enforcement actions this week, the SEC made it clear that investment advisers need to substantiate the performance records of investment management firms they recommend to their clients. In these cases,...more
Last week, OCIE published a National Exam Program Risk Alert highlighting the staff’s focus on advisers’ responsibility to act consistently with their clients’ best interests. According to OCIE, its latest sweep examination,...more
The SEC’s Division of Investment Management published regulatory guidance on June 28, 2016, highlighting the need for registered investment company complexes to review their business continuity plans to ensure they are...more