On April 2, 2024, the Department of Labor (the “DOL”) finalized its amendment to the Qualified Professional Asset Manager (“QPAM”) prohibited transaction exemption (the “QPAM Exemption”). Among the changes made to the QPAM...more
On May 16, 2024, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) approved amendments to Regulation S-P to address unauthorized access to or use of “customer information” (a new defined term). Regulation S-P governs how...more
On March 27, 2024, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced amendments to the rule that allows internet-only investment advisers to register with the SEC (the “Rule”). The amended Rule eliminates the current...more
On September 21, 2023, a federal court in the Northern District of Texas (the “Court”) dismissed a challenge to the Department of Labor’s 2022 Investment Duties Rule (the “Rule”) allowing fiduciaries plans under the...more
With a ruling issued on August 25, 2023, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts (the “Massachusetts Supreme Court”) revived the Massachusetts fiduciary duty rule (the “Rule”) that raises the fiduciary standard for...more
On June 8, 2023, the Security and Exchange Commission’s (“SEC’s”) Division of Examinations (the “Division”) published a Risk Alert (the “Alert”) announcing “additional areas of emphasis” during the next leg of sweep...more
Members of our Investment Management team attended the Investment Management Conference hosted by the Investment Company Institute last month, one of the marquee gatherings for investment management professionals, board...more
On October 26, 2021, the SEC’s Division of Examinations (the “Division”) released a risk alert (the “Risk Alert”) detailing observations from a series of examinations by the Division’s staff (“Staff”) that focused on certain...more
The Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as amended (the “Advisers Act”), generally prohibits SEC‑registered investment advisers (“RIAs”) from entering into an advisory contract that charges a performance fee to a client who is...more
The Investment Company Institute (“ICI”) recently published a sample form of fund of funds investment agreement (the “Form Agreement”) to assist registered investment companies and business development companies (“Registered...more
In December 2020, New York adopted new rules to update its blue sky securities registration requirements as part of an ongoing effort to “streamline and enhance the oversight of the securities industry in New York,” modernize...more
On June 29, 2020, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) announced1 its new approach to the standards for financial institutions and investment professionals who provide investment advice on a nondiscretionary basis to 401(k) plans,...more
8/7/2020
/ 401k ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Fiduciary Rule ,
Individual Retirement Account (IRA) ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Prohibited Transactions ,
Regulation Best Interest ,
Retirement Plan
On June 29, 2020, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) announced its new approach to the standards for financial institutions and investment professionals who provide investment advice on a nondiscretionary basis to 401(k) plans,...more
While the financial industry was busy enjoying family vacations and a relaxing break for the July 4th holiday, the SEC stayed busy releasing new guidance for industry participants. For example, OCIE recently released a risk...more
In recent weeks, financial industry regulators have released a number of guidance responding to the current COVID-19 outbreak. With respect to open-end registered investment management companies (“Registered Mutual Funds”),...more
The staff of the SEC Division of Investment Management (the “Staff”) recently issued an Accounting and Disclosure Information statement summarizing its views regarding certain matters related to the way that mutual funds...more
On Monday, April 15, the New Jersey Bureau of Securities (“NJBS”) released its long-awaited proposed fiduciary rule (the “Proposed Rule”) for broker-dealers (“BDs”) and investment advisers (“IAs”).1 Key points from the Rule...more
As just about everyone who operates in the mutual fund, closed-end fund or exchange-traded fund (ETF) industries knows, the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”), requires certain key registered...more
New Jersey released its long-awaited proposed fiduciary rule (the “Fiduciary Rule”) for broker-dealers and investment advisers. The 60-day comment period for the Fiduciary Rule began today, and will end on June 14, 2019....more
Last week FINRA issued guidance (Regulatory Notice 19-10) with respect to communications with customers about registered representatives (“RRs”) who have left a broker-dealer (the “Notice”).
With increased frequency, RRs...more
The SEC published guidance with respect to cryptocurrencies, digital tokens, and similar investments (each a “digital asset”) that is designed to help issuers and others determine whether the applicable digital asset is a...more
As we prepare for a new year of regulatory initiates and actions, we believe it is important to take inventory of the most significant regulatory events from the past year. True to its word, the SEC focused on reducing...more
1/3/2019
/ Broker-Dealer ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Cybersecurity ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Form ADV ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investors ,
Liquidity ,
OCIE ,
Opportunity Zones ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Risk Management ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act
On May 22, Department of Labor (DOL) Secretary Alexander Acosta announced that, despite President Trump’s memorandum ordering further analysis of the fiduciary investment advice rule (Fiduciary Rule), there was no legal...more
On January 31, the staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) issued a no-action letter (“No-Action Letter”) permitting an “M&A Broker”, under certain circumstances, to facilitate mergers, acquisitions, business...more