The Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a National Exam Program Risk Alert on October 24, 2016 (Risk Alert) regarding examinations of...more
10/28/2016
/ Amended Regulation ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Compliance ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Investment Adviser ,
OCIE ,
Risk Alert ,
SEC Examination Priorities ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Securities Violations ,
Whistleblower Awards ,
Whistleblower Protection Policies
A settled enforcement action, announced by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on September 14, 2016, continues the trend of increased SEC scrutiny of private equity advisers concerning the allocation and...more
10/21/2016
/ Cease and Desist Orders ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Discounts ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Excessive Fees ,
Fund Expenses ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Advisers Act of 1940 ,
OCIE ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Private Equity Funds ,
Registered Investment Advisors ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently adopted amendments to Form ADV and to Rule 204-2 (Recordkeeping Rule), as well as technical amendments to other rules under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940...more
9/16/2016
/ Chief Compliance Officers ,
Derivatives ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Final Rules ,
Form ADV ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Advisers Act of 1940 ,
RAUM ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Required Forms ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
SMAs ,
Social Media ,
Special Purpose Entities ,
Umbrella Registration
Last week, Donald J. Trump, the Republican nominee for U.S. president, selected Governor Mike R. Pence of Indiana as his running mate for vice president. The selection of Governor Pence might have implications under the SEC’s...more
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on June 28, 2016, proposed new Rule 206(4)-4 (Proposed Rule) under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (Advisers Act). The Proposed Rule would require every SEC-registered...more
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission issued a final order (Order) on June 14, 2016, to adjust for inflation the “qualified client” thresholds applicable when a registered investment adviser charges a performance fee in...more
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on June 1, 2016 announced a settled enforcement action against a private equity fund manager (Adviser) for acting as a broker-dealer without registering. The case is...more
6/15/2016
/ Acquisitions ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Disgorgement ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Advisers Act of 1940 ,
Mergers ,
Portfolio Companies ,
Private Equity Funds ,
Sanctions ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Unregistered Brokers
A U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) no-action letter issued on April 25, 2016 provides relief from the annual surprise audit requirement of the “Custody Rule” for a registered investment adviser (RIA)...more
Over the past few years, the ABS Vegas conference has been the place for industry participants to congratulate each other on a job well done (most recently on a record-setting 2015 for CLO primary issuance), meet-and-greet...more
The Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on January 11, 2016 announced its examination priorities for this year, which “address issues across a variety...more
2/17/2016
/ Analytics ,
ETFs ,
Financial Institutions ,
OCIE ,
Popular ,
Retail Investors ,
Retirement ,
Risk Assessment ,
SEC Examination Priorities ,
Securities Exchanges ,
Variable Annuities
Marc Wyatt, Director of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE), indicated on November 20, 2015 that the OCIE staff is now examining “Exempt Reporting Advisers”...more
The New York City Council recently passed two amendments to the New York City Human Rights Law that are likely to substantially affect the manner in which firms in New York City may evaluate the qualifications and background...more
10/5/2015
/ Background Checks ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Brokers ,
Credit Checks ,
Criminal Background Checks ,
Fair Chance Act ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Human Rights ,
Investment Adviser ,
Registered Investment Advisors ,
SCDEA ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
SRO
The United States is proposing rules that, for the first time, would subject investment advisers registered or required to be registered (RIAs) with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) under the Investment...more
The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued a notice of proposed rulemaking on August 25, 2015,1 pertaining to all investment advisers registered or required to be registered...more
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC or Commission) issued a cease and desist order (Order) on June 23, 2015, against Pekin Singer Strauss Asset Management Inc. (Adviser), an investment adviser registered under...more
8/6/2015
/ Asset Management ,
CCO ,
Cease and Desist Orders ,
Chief Compliance Officers ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Officers ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Ethics ,
Fraud ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Advisers Act of 1940 ,
Investment Funds ,
Policy Violations ,
Portfolio Managers ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholders ,
Tone At The Top
As the general July 21, 2015 deadline approached to conform with the implementing regulations (Final Rules) for the Volcker Rule, a key issue remained with respect to the sponsoring, organizing and seeding of investment...more
7/29/2015
/ Banks ,
Covered Funds ,
Final Rules ,
Financial Institutions ,
Foreign Investment ,
Investment Companies ,
Investment Company Act of 1940 ,
Proprietary Trading ,
Public Funds ,
Registered Funds ,
Volcker Rule
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC or Commission) recently proposed amendments to Form ADV and to Rule 204-2 (Recordkeeping Rule) and other rules under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as amended (Advisers...more
7/17/2015
/ CCO ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Form ADV ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Advisers Act of 1940 ,
RAUM ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Risk Assessment ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Social Media ,
Umbrella Registration
The U.S. federal securities laws and the rules of U.S. self-regulatory organizations (such as the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority) impose certain reporting and compliance obligations on investment advisers and funds....more
3/27/2015
/ Brokers ,
CFTC ,
Compliance ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Equity Securities ,
Filing Deadlines ,
Filing Requirements ,
Form 13F ,
Form ADV ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Funds ,
NFA ,
Private Funds ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Schedule 13D ,
Securities Dealers
Predicting enforcement of the final rule regarding U.S. risk retention is an uncertain task. This OnPoint is designed to provide guidance on possibilities related to consequences of non-compliance, enforcement approaches by...more
We will leave the hand wringing and teeth gnashing to others. We expect there will be a lot of that in the days ahead. We have had our say on the misguided premises and tortured statutory interpretation underpinning the final...more
The Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight (Division) of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on September 9, 2014 issued a letter granting exemptive relief from provisions in CFTC Regulations...more
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Divisions of Investment Management (IM) and Corporate Finance (CF) released a staff legal bulletin (Bulletin) on June 30, 2014, covering various issues involved with proxy...more
The staff of the Division of Investment Management (Staff) of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued an IM Guidance Update (Guidance Update) on the use of social media in investment adviser advertising. The...more
The Securities and Exchange Commission’s (the “SEC” or the “Commission”) Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (“OCIE”) announced in an April 15, 2014 Risk Alert (the “Alert”) that it will be conducting...more
The staff of the Division of Investment Management of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Staff”) has issued a no-action letter in response to a request by the Managed Funds Association (the “MFA Letter”),...more