Imminent Shift: Preparing for the T+1 Settlement Impact on Equity-Based Compensation — The Consumer Finance Podcast
PLI's inSecurities Podcast - The Dangers of Regulation by Enforcement
6 Key Takeaways | Hot Topics in Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG)
Payment for Order Flow (PFOF) and Gamification: Your Questions Answered
Summer Enforcement Action Review; Raising Money in a Pandemic - Investment Management Roundtable Discussion
Main Reason To Be Selling PPLI Now
What a Difference a Day Makes!
Videocast: Asset management regulation in 2020 videocast series – The annuity regulatory landscape
Videocast: Asset management regulation in 2020 videocast series – Advisers Act regulatory agenda
Videocast: Asset management regulation in 2020 videocast series – Fiduciary investment advice: The patchwork emerges
Videocast: Asset management regulation in 2020 videocast series – SEC enforcement
Videocast: Asset management regulation in 2020 videocast series – Regulators step up pressure to implement LIBOR transition plans
Videocast: Asset management regulation in 2020 videocast series – Complying with new SEC rules for broker-dealers
Videocast: Asset management regulation in 2020 videocast series – DOL: What’s ahead
Videocast: Asset management regulation in 2020 videocast series – SEC’s OCIE exam priorities
Podcast: Credit Funds: Hot Topics in BDC Regulation
Videocast: Form CRS delivery obligations
Regulation Best Interest Videocast Series – Account Recommendations Under Regulation BI
Regulation Best Interest Videocast Series: Special Challenges For Dual Registrants
Regulation Best Interest Videocast Series: Account Monitoring Post-Regulation BI
The SEC has charged a leading developer on the Ethereum blockchain with engaging in the unregistered offer and sale of certain securities through a “liquid staking” program and with failing to register as a broker in...more
Way back in 2017, one of our earliest posts discussed the legal and financial risks to both the issuer and the finder if an issuer pays a finder’s fee in connection with a sale of securities in the United States, and the...more
A broad array of financial market participants—mutual funds, private funds, insurers, pension funds, family offices, individuals, and more—may be at risk after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) secured summary...more
The issue of when a person may be considered a “broker” or “dealer” and subject to registration as such under the federal securities laws, as distinguished from so-called finders (and therefore not subject to the panoply of...more
New York AG Letitia James filed a lawsuit against Mek Global Limited and Phoenixfin PTE Ltd., both doing business as KuCoin, alleging that the cryptocurrency platform violated the Martin Act when it failed to register as a...more
On March 9, 2023, the New York State Attorney General’s Office (NYAG) filed a lawsuit charging crypto trading platform KuCoin for “failing to register as a securities and commodities broker-dealer and falsely representing...more
One of the most overlooked and problematic issues concerning capital raising by small businesses, venture capital funds, and private equity funds is the use of “finders” to assist issuers with raising capital. Those who act...more
We’re occasionally asked if it’s a good idea for issuers to pay unregistered “finders” fees in exchange for connecting potential investors in conjunction with private securities offerings. “No,” is the short answer....more
The SEC Division of Examinations recently published its list of priorities for 2022. While it was a bit late compared to a typical year, the priorities letter provides a roadmap for firms to better understand where the...more
On March 28, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed new Rules 3a5-4 and 3a44-2 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (Exchange Act) (collectively, the Proposed Rules). The Proposed Rules seek to...more
Conn Kavanaugh attorneys Andrew R. Dennington and Julie M. Muller recently secured a significant win for their client before the U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals. The First Circuit affirmed that summary judgment properly...more
A recent US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) settled enforcement action that found that a hedge fund acted as an unregistered “dealer” has blurred the traditional line between dealers and traders. On August 17, 2021,...more
New York AG Letitia James moved to stop cryptocurrency trading platform Coinseed, Inc. (“Coinseed”) from allegedly executing unauthorized trades and acting as an unregistered commodity broker-dealer....more
In our first installment of this two-part “mini-series” on finders, we outlined the Securities and Exchange Commission’s proposed conditional exemption (“Proposed Exemption”) to permit unregistered brokers – or “finders” – to...more
At age 79, Paul Anka, the crooner and songwriter, is more relevant than ever. In 2020, he appeared on Season 4 of “The Masked Singer,” enjoyed a popular resurgence courtesy of TikTok, reworked his anthem “My Way” for the...more
A Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) plan to create a registration exemption for certain finders has generated a mixed response. The nearly 90 comments received by the SEC by the November 12, 2020 close of the comment...more
What You Need To Know: •The SEC proposes to exempt two types of Finders from broker-dealer registration pursuant if they satisfy certain conditions. •Tier I Finders may provide potential investors’ contact information to...more
On October 7, 2020, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) voted 3-2 to propose a conditional exemption (“Exemption”) to permit natural persons to engage in limited securities activities as “finders” on behalf of...more
This alert provides a brief discussion of the practice of using unregistered “finders” in the context of a private securities offering. We provide background on the process, discuss various risks and considerations, and...more
The SEC Division of Enforcement’s 2019 Annual Report, released earlier this month, shows a continuing focus on activities involving blockchain and cryptocurrency, and its website shows an increase in cases since last fiscal...more
I was catching up on my reading and came across a column in Investment News by Mark Schoeff that described the results of a recent FINRA arbitration, results which I found a bit alarming. I caution you: reading too much into...more
The SEC charged fifteen individuals with acting as unregistered brokers or aiding-and-abetting such activity in connection with Intertech Solutions, Inc.’s fraudulent and unregistered securities offerings....more
Over the past year, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has ramped up its scrutiny of cryptocurrencies and other digital token offerings. On Sept. 11, 2018, the SEC escalated its crackdown when it announced a pair of...more
On June 30, 2017, the SEC and the U.S. Attorney brought parallel civil and criminal fraud charges against Renwick Haddow, the owner of an unregistered broker-dealer entity named InCrowd Equity Inc., and two corporate entities...more
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) recently approved a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) proposal to adopt a new regime for the regulation of electing broker-dealer firms that meet the...more