On May 12, 2025, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a memorandum outlining the Criminal Division’s enforcement priorities and policies for prosecuting corporate and white-collar crimes in the new Administration....more
Amid a challenging environment for exits, especially in the wake of the recent market volatility, private fund managers continue to pursue alternative strategies, such as term extensions and liquidity solutions, to ride out...more
With ESG regulation now well embedded across all major jurisdictions, the trend we see for 2025 is about increasingly sophisticated triangulation by private fund managers between the regimes that apply by default (such as...more
5/7/2025
/ Disclosure Requirements ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) ,
Fund Managers ,
Greenwashing ,
Investment Funds ,
Popular ,
Private Funds ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
SFDR ,
Sustainable Finance
Paul Atkins, who has been nominated by President Trump to serve as Chairperson of the Securities & Exchange Commission, last week completed a short confirmation hearing before the U.S. Senate Banking Committee. Despite its...more
It is no secret that the incoming Republican Administration has been skeptical of the federal government’s climate change measures, which brings further uncertainty to the SEC’s new climate change rules (the “Rules”). To be...more
11/19/2024
/ Appeals ,
California ,
Capital Markets ,
Carbon Emissions ,
Climate Change ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Final Rules ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Risk Management ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
The Securities and Exchange Commission’s (“SEC”) National Examination Program is designed to improve compliance, prevent fraud, monitor risk and inform policy. It is also a consistent source of referrals to the SEC’s Division...more
11/13/2024
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Compliance ,
Confidentiality Agreements ,
Custody Rule ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Enforcement ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Filing Requirements ,
Fraud ,
Fund Managers ,
Greenwashing ,
Indemnification ,
MNPI ,
Pay-To-Play ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Retail Investors ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Whistleblowers
2023’s excitement for generative artificial intelligence (AI) prompted the SEC to respond on multiple fronts – stump speeches, rulemaking, new exam priorities and sweeps and previewing potential enforcement actions. SEC Chair...more
ESG continues to be a hot topic for 2024 for investors and regulators alike. The specific concerns investors and regulators have – and what they expect to develop over the coming months – differ, however, across...more
4/1/2024
/ Breach of Duty ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Enforcement ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Financial Statements ,
Form 10-K ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Greenwashing ,
Investors ,
Jurisdiction ,
Proposed Rules ,
Regulation S-K ,
Regulation S-X ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Sustainability ,
UK
This Webinar aims to provide some practical advice regarding Generative AI (“Gen AI”) and the issues its presents for private fund managers related to securities law and compliance. To the presenters, this is an dynamic time...more
The SEC spread its reach to Hollywood this month – on October 3, 2022, the SEC announced charges against Kim Kardashian for her social media promotions of EMAX, a digital token issued by EthereumMax. The SEC found that...more
10/14/2022
/ Celebrity Endorsements ,
Cryptoassets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
EDGAR ,
Ethereum ,
Failure To Disclose ,
Kim Kardashian ,
Penalties ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Violations ,
Social Media
If 2021 was the year in which regulators and investors enthusiastically embraced environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) considerations, by creating new legal and regulatory frameworks, then 2022 will be the year for...more
2/25/2022
/ Business Plans ,
Business Strategies ,
Capital Investments ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Investment ,
Private Funds ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Sustainability
We reported last year that unprecedented SPAC deal volume signaled an increased risk for disputes given their unique structure, including risks associated with disclosure requirements, material non-public information,...more
The Biden administration's climate-change priorities and the Securities and Exchange Commission's increased emphasis on environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) have come into focus. The global impact of ESG...more
1/5/2022
/ Business Plans ,
Capital Investments ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
Investment Management ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Sustainability
On September 14, 2021, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler testified before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. During his testimony, he stated that the SEC is exploring...more
As investors drive demand for investment products focused on environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors, fund managers have increasingly offered ESG-focused or “sustainable investing” funds. However, a recent speech...more
8/25/2020
/ Asset Management ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Fund Managers ,
Internal Controls ,
Investment Advisers Act of 1940 ,
OCIE ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Taxonomy
The SEC has been active in the private equity space recently after being relatively quiet for some time. A recent enforcement action serves as a reminder for fund sponsors that regulators are continuing to look at fund...more
Last week, the SEC's Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations released its 2020 Exam Priorities with a number of areas of interest to private fund managers. OCIE reported that it examined 15% of registered investment...more
1/15/2020
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Cybersecurity ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Investment Adviser ,
OCIE ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
SEC Examination Priorities ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Standard of Conduct
Today, we are launching a proprietary database tracking all SEC enforcement actions involving private equity advisers. The database contains key information from the actions, including summaries of key issues, settlement...more
7/23/2019
/ Broker-Dealer ,
Compliance ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Disgorgement ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Funds ,
Popular ,
Private Equity ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
A recent action where the SEC focused on the presumably conservative undervaluation of assets suggests that it is more than willing to use valuation as a hook to deter “smoothing” of returns. As we previously noted, while the...more
The DC Circuit recently released an opinion addressing the SEC’s administrative findings against registered investment adviser The Robare Group (TRG) for failure to disclose alleged conflicts of interest. Although the court...more
During his recent keynote address at the New York City Bar Association’s 7th Annual White Collar Crime Institute, SEC Enforcement Co-Director Steven Peikin imparted a few suggested “do’s and don’ts” for effective...more
Potential disputes involving unicorns have been a hot topic for the last several years. We predicted that would continue this year in in our webinar and related blog post: The Top Ten Regulatory and Litigation Risks for...more
5/4/2018
/ Credit Karma ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Privately Held Corporations ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Rule 701 ,
Securities Act of 1933 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Stock Options ,
Unicorns
On April 12, 2018, the SEC's Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations ("OCIE") issued a risk alert listing the most common compliance issues concerning fees and expenses charged by SEC-registered investment advisers....more
4/19/2018
/ Advisors Act ,
Billing ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Fee Agreements ,
Fees ,
Form ADV ,
Investment Adviser ,
Marketing ,
OCIE ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Rebates ,
Risk Alert ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
On September 9, 2016, the SEC filed a complaint against RPM International Inc. (“RPM”) and the company’s General Counsel/CCO. The SEC claims the company filed false and misleading SEC filings that failed to disclose any loss...more
Valuation is typically near the top of the list when the SEC’s enforcement division and exam staff disclose their priority topics for private funds. We expect that trend to continue and, if anything, the focus on valuation...more