On September 12, 2024, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) finalized the first major changes to CFTC Regulation 4.7 (Rule 4.7) in over 30 years. Among other technical revisions, the amendments to Rule 4.7,...more
Key Points - On Wednesday, March 6, 2024, the SEC in a 3-2 vote adopted “The Enhancement and Standardization of Climate-Related Disclosures for Investors” (Final Rule). The Final Rule will require public companies to...more
3/12/2024
/ Annual Reports ,
Carbon Emissions ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Final Rules ,
Financial Statements ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Risk Management ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholders ,
Transparency
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently adopted final rules (available here; also see the fact sheet and press release) representing significant changes to special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs), shell...more
Key Points -
The Corporate Transparency Act (the “CTA”), implemented primarily through a rule published by FinCEN on September 30, 2022, the Beneficial Ownership Information Reporting Rule (“BOIR Rule”), becomes effective...more
Investment Advisers: Assessing Risks, Scoping Examinations, and Requesting Documents*
I. Introduction -
The SEC-registered investment adviser (“adviser”) population is large and diverse, ranging from global asset managers...more
9/12/2023
/ Audits ,
Brokerage Accounts ,
Business Operations ,
Compliance ,
Cybersecurity ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Ethics ,
Financial Records ,
Insider Trading ,
Internal Controls ,
Investment Adviser ,
Marketing ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Risk Alert ,
Risk Management ,
Securities ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Trading Platforms ,
Valuation
The Securities and Exchange Commission adopted rules on December 14, 2022 that will require...more
The substantive provisions of the new Marketing Rule come into effect for all private fund managers, fund sponsors and other investment advisers registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in one month (i.e.,...more
On July 26, 2021, 21 investment advisers entered into settlements with the Securities and Exchange Commission to resolve charges that they failed to timely file and deliver their relationship summaries on Form CRS. Penalties...more
On July 21, 2021, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Examinations issued a Risk Alert on cross trades and principal transactions.1 The Risk Alert’s guidance and warnings were based on over 20 examinations of...more
In this episode, Akin Gump investment management partners Barbara Niederkofler and Jason Daniel discuss the Security and Exchange Commission’s proposed modernization of the advertising and cash solicitation rules under the...more
1/10/2020
/ Advertising ,
Books & Records ,
Cash Solicitation Rule ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Advisers Act of 1940 ,
Investment Funds ,
Investment Management ,
Investors ,
Pooled Investment Vehicles ,
Proposed Amendments ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Securities Transactions
On August 21, 2019, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) voted 3 to 2 to adopt new interpretive guidance (the “Voting Interpretation”) applicable to investment advisers regarding their proxy voting responsibilities as...more
9/6/2019
/ Conflicts of Interest ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Duty of Care ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Informed Consent ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Management ,
Investors ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Proxy Advisors ,
Proxy Advisory Firms ,
Proxy Voting ,
Proxy Voting Guidelines ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Supervision
• The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) staff made official statements regarding when a token may or may no longer be a security
• The SEC continued to bring actions related to cryptocurrency offerings against...more
9/24/2018
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Banking Sector ,
Bitcoin ,
Broker-Dealer ,
CFTC ,
Commodities ,
Counter-Terrorist ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Customer Due Diligence (CDD) ,
Digital Currency ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Exchange-Traded Products ,
FATF ,
Financial Institutions ,
FinTech ,
Income Taxes ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Company Act of 1940 ,
IRS ,
Jurisdiction ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
National Futures Association ,
Popular ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Fraud ,
Token Sales ,
Trading Platforms ,
U.S. Treasury ,
Unregistered Securities ,
Virtual Currency ,
Websites
• Disclosures must inform investors about material cybersecurity risks and incidents, including addressing material cybersecurity risks for cyber-attacks that have not yet occurred.
• Comprehensive policies and procedures...more
3/1/2018
/ Cyber Attacks ,
Cyber Incident Reporting ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Financial Statements ,
Insider Trading ,
Investors ,
Materiality ,
MD&A Statements ,
New Guidance ,
Non-Public Information ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Regulation FD ,
Risk Assessment ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
On October 11, 2017, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) voted to adopt proposed amendments to Regulation S-K that are intended to modernize and simplify certain disclosure requirements and related rules and...more
Introduction -
Despite an anticipated de-regulatory push, there are significant new regulatory concerns for investment advisers to address in connection with their annual review of their compliance manuals....more
10/12/2017
/ Bad Actors ,
Bureau of Economic Analysis ,
CFTC ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Custody Rule ,
Cybersecurity ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Electronic Communications ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
EU ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Foreign Direct Investment ,
Form ADV ,
Fund Expenses ,
GAAP ,
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) ,
Hedge Funds ,
Insider Trading ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Management ,
IRS ,
MiFID II ,
NFA ,
Pay-To-Play ,
Private Equity Funds ,
Private Funds ,
Securities Act of 1933 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Tax Audits
The staff of the SEC's Division of Corporation Finance recently published additional "Compliance and Disclosure Interpretations", starting at 260.28, relating to the bad actor disqualification in Rule 506 under the Securities...more