On August 29, 2019, the SEC filed a complaint against a registered investment adviser alleging failures to disclose four categories of conflicts of interest and seeking disgorgement of $10 million in undisclosed compensation....more
On Aug. 1, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) charged Commonwealth Equity Services LLC, dba Commonwealth Financial Network (Commonwealth), a registered independent investment adviser to private clients (but not...more
The Securities and Exchange Commission announced on March 11, 2019 that it had settled charges against 79 investment advisers in connection with its Share Class Selection Disclosure Initiative (SCSD Initiative). This...more
On January 28, 2019, FINRA announced a novel leniency initiative that will offer no-fine enforcement resolutions for member firms that self-report supervisory deficiencies related to recommendations of 529 savings plans and...more
About a year ago, the SEC offered investment advisors the unique opportunity to report themselves to the SEC if they sold mutual funds to their clients that offered a lower priced share class than the class actually selected...more
On February 12, 2018, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced an initiative to address undisclosed conflicts of interest by investment advisers in the context of mutual fund share classes. Dubbed the Share Class...more
The SEC’s Division of Enforcement announced a new cooperation initiative addressed to investment advisers who have failed to disclose conflicts arising from the receipt of 12b-1 fees from mutual funds. In essence, the...more
The SEC announced a self-reporting initiative for investment advisors who admit violations of the federal securities laws relating to certain mutual fund share class election issues while promptly returning money to harmed...more