[Podcast] Top 5 Takeaways from New Jersey’s 2023 Pay-to-Play Reform
Pay to Play Risk is High due to New Jersey 2021 Elections: Reduce your risk now!
Venture Capital Trends: East Meets West – Lewis Geffen, Co-chair, Venture Capital Practice
More Flack on WhatsApp, Hypothetical Performance SmackDown, A Timely Warning on the Pay-to-Play Rule, and Updates to Qualifying Venture Capital Fund Exemption - This month's big news from the SEC was more piggy-bank breaking...more
Eighth Circuit Invalidates Missouri's Two-Year Lobbying Ban for Former Legislators and Staffers - The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals invalidated a Missouri state constitutional amendment that imposed a two-year lobbying...more
Kamala Harris’ selection of Tim Walz as running mate for her presidential campaign has implications under the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Rule 206(4)-5 under the Investment Advisers Act (SEC Pay-to-Play Rule)....more
Overview: Investment advisers that seek to manage public money need to consider the SEC’s “pay to play” rule, which restricts election-related contributions by the firms or their “covered associates” to elected state...more
On August 6, 2024, the Democratic nominee for President, Kamala Harris, chose Tim Walz, Governor of Minnesota, as her running mate. This selection presents important considerations vis à vis the “Pay-to-Play Rule” (Rule...more
Vice President Kamala Harris announced Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate for the upcoming Presidential election. Because Governor Walz is an “official” for purposes of the SEC’s pay-to-play rule under the...more
As we reach the midpoint of 2024, the SEC has maintained its rigorous enforcement stance on the private funds industry, proposing new rules and oversight tools to better identify and investigate market practices. As 2024...more
The SEC’s recent settlement involving a “pay-to-play” rule violation by a private equity firm is a timely reminder for fund managers, especially with the November elections approaching. As a refresher, Rule 206(4)-5 of...more
With political campaign activity ramping up as the fall elections approach, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has indicated it will continue stringent enforcement of Investment Advisers Act Rule 206(4)-5 (the...more
On November 1, 2023, the industry groups (the Petitioners) challenging the new Private Fund Adviser Rules filed in the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit their opening brief (the Brief) setting forth their legal...more
With the 2024 elections fast approaching, investment advisers must continue to be mindful of political contributions by their personnel if they manage or intend to manage public pension plan assets, among other compliance...more
Recently, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has demonstrated its willingness to largely forgo the strict consequences of Investment Advisers Act Rule 206(4)-5 (the “Pay-to-Play Rule”) in circumstances where...more
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) brought an unusually high number of enforcement actions against exempt reporting advisers in 2022 — that appears to be more than the prior three years combined and a record number...more
With the midterm elections less than a month away and political campaign activity in full swing, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has demonstrated a renewed interest in “pay-to-play” enforcement after a long...more
On September 21, 2022, U.S. District Judge George B. Daniels of the Southern District of New York dismissed with prejudice a putative securities class action against BELLUS Health, Inc. and certain of its officers....more
As evidenced by an influx of recent activity over the past month, it’s becoming more and more apparent that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is strengthening its regulatory framework and pushing forward with...more
The latest round of penalties assessed for violations of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) pay-to-play rule highlight the strict liability nature of Rule 206(4)-5. This month, the SEC announced five-figure...more
INTRODUCTION - As the November 2020 elections approach, investment advisers and other financial institutions who do business with, or seek to do business with, public pension plans and other government entities should...more
On January 13, 2020, the United States Supreme Court denied certiorari to an appeal of a June 2019 order from the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit that dismissed an action seeking to invalidate certain...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
We are regularly approached by both our RIA (and BD too) clients, who inquire, usually around election time, how they should make political contributions. Our advice is usually do not make the political contribution and you...more
“Congress shall make no law . . . abridging the freedom of speech . . . .” Doug Cornelius recently published this post reporting that the SEC staff is taking the position that the pay-to-play rule, Rule 206(4)-5, applies...more
As we near the seventh anniversary of the passage of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank), private equity and hedge fund advisers are subject to an ever-increasing degree of supervision...more
Many states and municipalities have adopted laws and regulations that affect how investment managers may solicit investment advisory business, including investment in sponsored public and private funds, from the state...more
The Securities and Exchange Commission recently announced that ten investment advisory firms agreed to pay penalties in the tens of thousands of dollars to settle SEC charges that they violated the SEC’s pay-to-play rule,...more