On March 19, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a new FAQ response1 that softens prior guidance on the use of gross and net performance in advertisements. The new FAQs (the New Guidance) reduce the burden of...more
Over the last six years, investment management professionals have steadily increased their use of alternative data to improve decision-making, optimize portfolios, improve due diligence, and boost returns. Now, with widely...more
3/4/2025
/ Algorithms ,
Analytics ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Data Brokers ,
Data Management ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
Hedge Funds ,
Investment ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Management ,
Investors ,
Machine Learning ,
Risk Management
On October 21, 2024, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Division of Examinations (the Division) released its annual Examination Priorities for fiscal year 2025 (the Report). The Report identifies certain...more
11/14/2024
/ Advisors Act ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
Broker-Dealer ,
BSA/AML ,
Code of Conduct ,
Compliance ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Investment Adviser ,
Private Funds ,
SEC Examination Priorities ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
On September 20, 2024, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced a settlement with an investment adviser for, among other things, failure to register with the SEC as an investment adviser. The SEC found that...more
On September 9, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced another series of settlements with registered investment advisers for violations of Rule 206(4)-1, as amended (Marketing Rule), under the Investment...more
10/17/2024
/ Advertising ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Endorsements ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Advisers Act of 1940 ,
Marketing ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Popular ,
Ratings ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Statement of Facts ,
Testimonial Statements ,
Third-Party
On September 12, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC or Commission) published a final rule, adopting amendments to CFTC Rule 4.7, which provides exemptive relief from certain compliance obligations to registered...more
On August 14, 2024, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced another series of settlements regarding “off-channel communications.”1 As part of its Off-Channel Communications Initiative,2 the SEC settled...more
On August 19, 2024, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) settled with a registered investment adviser (Adviser),1 whereby the Adviser paid a $95,000 civil money penalty in addition to being censured for...more
9/5/2024
/ Campaign Contributions ,
Closed-End Funds ,
Federal Elections ,
Government Entities ,
Government Officials ,
Investment Adviser ,
Pay-To-Play ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Political Contributions ,
Registered Investment Advisors ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
On August 28, the United States Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued a final rule (the “Final Rule”) subjecting certain registered investment advisers (RIAs) and exempt reporting...more
9/3/2024
/ AML/CFT ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
Customer Identification Program (CIP) ,
Final Rules ,
FinCEN ,
Investment Adviser ,
Patriot Act ,
Popular ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Registered Investment Advisors ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs)
On May 14, 2024, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced a settlement with a registered investment adviser (Adviser) that found the Adviser had (a) failed to adequately disclose conflicts pertaining to...more
On May 13, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) released a joint notice of a proposed rulemaking (NPRM) that would require...more
Rule 206(4)-1, as amended (the Marketing Rule), continues to be an area of focus for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). On April 17, 2024, the SEC Division of Examinations (Division) published a risk alert...more
On April 15, 2024, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) settled with a registered investment adviser (Adviser), whereby the Adviser paid a $60,0000 civil money penalty of in addition to being censured for...more
On April 3, 2024, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced yet another settlement regarding “off-channel communications.” As we have previously written about, settlements of this type have become...more
Limited partnership agreements and similar documents that govern private funds are often amended over the course of a fund’s life cycle. For example, many funds may be currently going through the amendment process in...more
On January 23, 2024, Judge Edward M. Chen of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California ruled in META PLATFORMS, INC. v. BRIGHT DATA LTD. (Meta v. Bright Data), granting Bright Data’s motion for...more
2/16/2024
/ Breach of Contract ,
Data Sellers ,
Facebook ,
Instagram ,
Investment Adviser ,
Marketing ,
Popular ,
Social Media Account Ownership ,
Terms of Use ,
Third-Party ,
Web Scraping
On January 16, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced an $18 million settlement order (Order) with J.P. Morgan Securities LLC (JPMS) that finds that the language of release agreements JPMS entered into with...more
Alternative data continues to strongly influence the decision-making of investment professionals across all areas of the investment management industry. In a testament to the rising importance of alternative data, the...more
As we have discussed in earlier Client Alerts, on August 23, 2023, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted new and amended rules under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as amended (the Advisers Act), to...more
12/7/2023
/ Disclosure Requirements ,
Fund Managers ,
Fund of Funds ,
Illiquid Assets ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Advisers Act of 1940 ,
Investment Portfolios ,
Investors ,
Performance Standards ,
Private Funds ,
Quarterly Report ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Registered Investment Advisors ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Division of Examinations (the Division) recently released its annual Examination Priorities for fiscal year 2024 (the Report). The Report underlines the Division’s focus on...more
11/14/2023
/ Broker-Dealer ,
Cybersecurity ,
Disclosure ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Advisers Act of 1940 ,
Marketing ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Portfolio Managers ,
Private Funds ,
Registered Investment Advisors ,
SEC Examination Priorities ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
On August 23, 2023, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted new rules and amendments under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as amended (the Advisers Act), that are expected to have a wide-ranging impact on...more
10/30/2023
/ Advisors Act ,
Anti-Fraud Provisions ,
Bad Faith ,
Best Interest Standard ,
Breach of Duty ,
Enforcement ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Investment Adviser ,
Negligence ,
Offshore Funds ,
Portfolio Managers ,
Private Funds ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Standard of Conduct
On August 23, 2023, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted new and amended rules under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as amended (the Advisers Act), to address certain conflicts of interest and...more
10/25/2023
/ Fund Managers ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Company Act of 1940 ,
Investors ,
Legacy Funds ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Pooled Investment Vehicles ,
Preferred Treatment ,
Private Funds ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Transparency
On August 23, 2023, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted new and amended rules under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as amended (the Advisers Act), to address what it perceives as certain conflicts...more
9/26/2023
/ Borrowers ,
Clawbacks ,
Compliance ,
Consent ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Advisers Act of 1940 ,
Investment Management ,
Legacy Funds ,
Negligence ,
Notice Requirements ,
Portfolio Managers ,
Private Funds ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Registered Investment Advisors ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Willful Misconduct ,
Written Consent
On August 23, 2023, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced the enactment of a series of new and amended rules under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as amended (the Advisers Act). We refer to these...more
8/30/2023
/ Audits ,
Compliance ,
Consent ,
Custody Rule ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Final Rules ,
Fund Managers ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Advisers Act of 1940 ,
Investors ,
Private Funds ,
Quarterly Report ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Registered Investment Advisors ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Transparency
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) routinely prepares Risk Alerts to provide helpful information to federally registered investment advisors (advisers). On June 8, the SEC released a Risk Alert that described...more