On Thursday, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Director of Corporate Finance William Hinman provided some long-desired clarity on the SEC’s approach to cryptocurrency regulation, announcing during Yahoo Finance’s...more
6/18/2018
/ Bitcoin ,
CFTC ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Digital Currency ,
Ether ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Investors ,
New Guidance ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Transactions ,
Token Sales
On April 18, 2018, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed a new interpretation (the “Proposed Interpretation”) of the fiduciary duties of investment advisers under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as...more
5/8/2018
/ Best Interest Standard ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Duty of Care ,
Duty of Loyalty ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Advisers Act of 1940 ,
Retail Investors ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
• 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
On Tuesday, November 15, 2016, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that Chair Mary Jo White will resign as SEC Commissioner effective January 20, 2017, concurrently with the end of President Obama’s term of...more
During its open meeting last week, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) voted to propose amendments to the federal proxy rules to require the use of universal proxy cards for all annual or special meetings with...more
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a final order on June 14 to adjust for inflation the net-worth threshold for a registered investment adviser to charge performance-based compensation to its advisory clients...more
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) brought and settled an enforcement action against Blackstreet Capital Management, LLC, a registered investment adviser to private equity funds, and its principal for, among other...more
On April 12, 2016, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) continued its enforcement of reasonable cybersecurity controls, announcing cease and desist proceedings against a broker-dealer and two of its principals...more
On March 17, 2016, Sen. Baldwin and her co-sponsors, Sens. Merkley, Sanders and Warren, introduced S.2720, the Brokaw Act (the “Bill”) to target activist hedge funds and their tactics. In particular, it would amend Section 13...more
Just one week after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations issued a new risk alert on cybersecurity, the SEC brought an enforcement action against an investment adviser...more
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed a new round of changes to its check-the-box registration form for investment advisers, Part 1A of Form ADV (“ADV 1A”), and proposed some minor changes to its recordkeeping...more
A recent decision from the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York allowing a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) civil enforcement action to proceed against two former stockbrokers for...more
4/23/2015
/ Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Illegal Tipping ,
Insider Trading ,
Judge Rakoff ,
Personal Benefit ,
Quid Pro Quo ,
SEC v Payton ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
US v Newman
Last week, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced settled charges against (i) 28 officers, directors and major beneficial owners of publicly traded companies that failed to file Schedules 13D and 13G and...more
In a speech delivered on June 5, 2014 at the Sandler O’Neill Global Exchange and Brokerage Conference in New York, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Mary Jo White unveiled a package of SEC initiatives aimed...more
The Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Corporation Finance posted a few additional interpretations (at 260.33 and 260.34) late January relating to the continuation of offerings commenced prior to September 23,...more
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
Regulation A currently permits issuers to conduct a limited-scale public offering and subjects issuers that use it to a lighter compliance burden as compared with larger public offerings. However, because of the costs of...more
As discussed (see Below) , the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted changes to Regulation D and Rule 144A, addressing general solicitation, new filing requirements and “bad actor” disqualification events (among...more