Nonprofit Basics: Conflict of Interest Policies and Best Practices for Approving Insider Compensation
Nonprofit Basics: Insider Transactions and Nonprofits – What’s the Big Deal?
Conflicts of Interest in Healthcare and Elsewhere
Payment for Order Flow (PFOF) and Gamification: Your Questions Answered
Bar Exam Toolbox Podcast Episode 124: Listen and Learn -- Duty of Loyalty (Corporations)
Law School Toolbox Podcast Episode 282: Listen and Learn -- Duty of Loyalty (Corporations)
What to Do When Your University, FBI, or DOJ Knocks on Your Door: Responding to University, Criminal, and Civil Investigations
Videocast: Asset management regulation in 2020 videocast series – The ADV season
Videocast: Asset management regulation in 2020 videocast series – DOL: What’s ahead
Podcast: Credit Funds: Compliance Considerations for Valuation
CONVERGE18-Preview Podcasts-David Bunker on COIs in the Gig Economy
Podcast - Credit Funds: A Framework for Addressing and Mitigating Conflicts of Interest
Day 7 of One Month to Better Investigations and Report-How Investigations Inform Remediation
Day 15 of One Month to Better Compliance Through HR-Employment Separation Issues
Bill Beutler on Editing Wikipedia
Rules for rewarding 'super' condo board members
Bill on Bankruptcy: US Airways Need a Merger More than AMR
Although certain enforcement priorities of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have shifted under new Chairman Paul S. Atkins, the SEC continues to scrutinize investment advisers’ disclosures regarding the fees...more
On April 1, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit vacated a summary judgment ruling in favor of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) against Commonwealth Equity Services, LLC, also known as Commonwealth...more
On 14 January 2025, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced settled charges against three investment adviser representatives for acting as unregistered brokers in the sale of membership interests in certain...more
Many private fund managers are breathing a sigh of relief after the Fifth Circuit struck down the Private Fund Rules (check out our blog post for more information). Do not, however, assume the SEC will stop its aggressive...more
On July 26, 2023, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), in a 3-2 vote, issued a release (the “Release”) containing proposed rules to address conflicts of interest associated with broker dealers’ and investment...more
The passage of omnibus federal legislation on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) is unlikely in the short term, but individual federal agencies continue to address the implementation of AI within the areas they regulate....more
Summary - The U.S. Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) has proposed additional compliance obligations on broker-dealers and investment advisers and their use of artificial intelligence (AI), predictive analytics, and...more
In June 2022, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed its first complaint alleging violations of both the care and compliance obligations of Regulation Best Interest, or Reg BI. In SEC v. Western International...more
On August 3, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) staff published a Q&A-Styled Bulletin focused on conflicts of interest under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (Advisers Act) and Regulation Best Interest (Reg...more
The SEC last month proposed rules under the Advisers Act indicating a dramatic shift in how the SEC intends to reduce conflicts of interest involving private fund managers and their investors. As we previously noted in the...more
The SEC has been increasingly focused on digital engagement practices (DEPs) and gamification in the marketplace. In August, for example, the SEC solicited public comment on broker-dealer and investment adviser DEPs and...more
President-Elect Joe Biden is quickly learning that the line of people seeking regulatory reform in the wake of the Trump administration's regulatory free-for-all is getting longer all the time. At the front of the line is...more
With SEC Regulation Best Interest (“Reg-BI”) effective as of June 30, 2020, SEC examiners will now focus on whether firms have made a good faith effort to implement policies and procedures (“P&Ps”) that are necessary for...more
On June 23, 2020, the Office of Compliance Inspections and Examination (OCIE) of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) published a risk alert (Risk Alert) that highlighted certain compliance deficiencies observed by...more
As the June 30, 2020, compliance date approaches, broker-dealers are taking steps to implement Regulation Best Interest (Reg BI), which establishes a new standard of conduct when making recommendations to retail customers of...more
We are actively looking for circumstances where an adviser is financially conflicted by incentives that could affect investment recommendations to clients. ... And I will tell you: the more we look, the more undisclosed or...more
On January 10, 2020, the staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) updated its frequently asked questions on Regulation Best Interest (the “FAQs”). ...more
Litigation Risks Posed by the SEC’s Regulation Best Interest - Pete Tepley and Meredith Lees highlight litigation risks posed by the SEC’s Regulation Best Interest (Reg-BI), litigation risks that may arise from Reg-BI’s...more
In this episode, Akin Gump investment management partners Barbara Niederkofler and Jason Daniel discuss the Security and Exchange Commission’s proposed modernization of the advertising and cash solicitation rules under the...more
As the countdown to the June 30, 2020, date for compliance with Reg BI inches forward, FINRA and the SEC are providing a potpourri of support and information to help firms ensure compliance. FINRA EFFORTS: FINRA’s...more
My young boys will sometimes chase me around the house, catch me, and yell “gotcha” as they drag me off to their pretend jail. No matter how much I plead that I’ve done nothing wrong, I always end up in jail, despite having...more
In Robare Group v. SEC, the court clarified the meaning of “willfully” under Section 207 of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. A willful omission requires that a person “subjectively intended to omit material information.”...more
On June 5, 2019, the SEC adopted a package of rules and interpretations (the Adopted Rules) to clarify and further articulate the relationship between retail investors and their broker-dealers or investment advisers....more
Have you ever considered investing your money with a robot? A new category of investment advisers known as robo-advisors are automated, low-cost services that provide investment advice via web or mobile platforms....more