Blue Sky Laws: Defending State-Level Securities Violations
Payment for Order Flow (PFOF) and Gamification: Your Questions Answered
Business and Legal Issues Around Blockchain and Cryptocurrencies
Summer Enforcement Action Review; Raising Money in a Pandemic - Investment Management Roundtable Discussion
Videocast: Asset management regulation in 2020 videocast series – The annuity regulatory landscape
Videocast: Asset management regulation in 2020 videocast series – FinTech initiatives
Ropes & Gray’s PEP Talk: General Solicitation by Private Equity Funds Under 506(c)
The U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) recently issued final, new regulations (the “rules”) regarding who is considered an investment advice fiduciary that are slated to become generally effective on September 23, 2024, as well...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 June 15, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) filed a complaint against California-based broker-dealer Western International Securities, Inc. (“Western”) alleging violations of Regulation Best Interest...more
Delaware Chancery Court Dismisses Cigna Derivative Suit Over Failed Anthem Merger; The PCAOB Sanctions Former KPMG Vice Chair Of Audit For Failure To Supervise Senior Members Of KPMG's Audit Practice; Ninth Circuit Affirms...more
The SEC prevailed on a motion to dismiss a closely watched lawsuit alleging that the defendant had engaged in insider trading based on news about a not-yet-public corporate acquisition when he purchased securities of a...more
The Federal District Court for Hawaii recently determined that no violations of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (“ERISA”) were established by the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) in a breach of...more
Doug Cornelius at Compliance Building took note of an Securities and Exchange Commission order issued last Friday instituting proceedings against an investment adviser, Diastole Wealth Management, Inc., for inadequate...more
Two separate, recent lines of cases have continued to shape the circumstances under which insider trading prosecutions can be brought, and as a result, the insider trading compliance risks faced by companies. First, the...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
The Securities and Exchange Commission will hold a roundtable discussion on October 26, 2020 that will focus on Regulation Best Interest and Form CRS. The roundtable will discuss initial observations regarding...more
In Re Homefed Corporation Stockholder Litigation arose from a transaction in which Jefferies Financial Group Inc., the 70% stockholder of HomeFed Corporation, acquired the rest of the shares of the company in July 2019 by...more
In XY Planning Network, LLC, et al. v. SEC, et al., the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit rejected a challenge to Regulation Best Interest brought by an organization of investment advisers, an individual...more
The standard of conduct for broker-dealers is quickly becoming a crazy quilt of securities regulation. Apparently unsatisfied with the standard established under SEC Regulation Best Interest (Reg BI), some state securities...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
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
It’s been nearly five months since the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) approved Regulation Best Interest: The Broker-Dealer Standard of Conduct (“Reg BI”). As discussed in our June 27, 2019 Client Alert, Reg BI...more
In response to the proliferation of direct placements of municipal securities with financial institutions over the past decade, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has proposed a regulatory change to clarify the role...more
The SEC has issued its final Regulation Best Interest (Reg BI), Form CRS Regulation, RIA Interpretation and Solely Incidental Interpretation. I am discussing the SEC’s guidance in a series of articles entitled “Best Interest...more
The Securities and Exchange Commission’s Regulation Best Interest faces a bumpy road in the wake of recent lawsuits challenging the appropriateness and effectiveness of the rule....more
Failures by a number of investment advisers to comply with certain rules governing principal and agency cross trades has prompted the compliance inspections staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to issue a...more
In a very unusual lawsuit, attorneys general from seven states and the District of Columbia recently sued the SEC, and its chair, Jay Clayton, for declaratory and injunctive relief seeking to block the effectiveness of...more
The Securities and Exchange Commission’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) issued a risk alert earlier this month from its national examination program warning investment advisers of the most common...more
On June 5, 2019, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) voted three to one to approve a package of rulemakings and interpretations designed to enhance the quality and transparency of investors’ relationships with...more
As part of its “Reg BI Package”, approved on June 5, 2019, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) sought to clarify the fiduciary duty that an investment adviser owes to its clients under the Investment Advisers...more
On June 5, 2019, the SEC adopted a four-part regulatory package that includes: new Regulation Best Interest (Reg. BI), the related “Relationship Summary” disclosure form (Form CRS), and two interpretations of the Advisers...more