Welcome to the latest edition of Fenwick’s Securities Law Update. This edition contains updates and reminders on: ..The federal court decision that struck down the FTC’s noncompete ban, blocking it from taking effect...more
On March 22, 2023, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a complaint in US District Court for the Southern District of New York against Justin Sun, the owner of BitTorrent, Inc., a file-sharing platform; three...more
On July 25, 2022, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced insider trading charges against ten individual defendants across four separate cases (Bhardwaj, Goel, Markin, and Buyer), filed in the...more
In a pair of settlements announced on July 28, 2020, the SEC charged VALIC Financial Advisors (the “Firm”) with two separate sets of violations that allowed the Firm to obtain millions of dollars in fees without providing...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
Regulation Best Interest: SEC 2020 Examination Priorities—Examinations for Compliance With Reg BI and the Investment Adviser Interpretation - The SEC has issued its final Regulation Best Interest (Reg BI), Form CRS Rule,...more
SEC Proposes to Update Accredited Investor Definition to Increase Access to Investments - On December 18, 2019, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed amendments to the definition of “accredited investor” in...more
Yesterday the SEC announced its enforcement results for FY 2019, accompanied by a report from the Co-Directors of its Division of Enforcement. While the total number of actions increased slightly from 2018, the percentage of...more
Over the past several years, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) enforcement activity has eroded the stability of the once-standard lineup of share classes available to mutual fund investors. Starting with...more
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 SEC, in conjunction with the Colorado Bar Association and Colorado Society of Certified Public Accountants, recently sponsored the 51st Annual Rocky Mountain Securities Conference featuring SEC officials and corporate...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 March 11, 2019, the SEC announced settlements with 79 investment advisers who self-reported violations of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (the “Advisers Act”) in connection with the Division of Enforcement’s Share...more
On January 28, 2019, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (FINRA) launched its 529 Plan Share Class Initiative (the Initiative) to encourage member firms to self-report potential violations of rules governing 529...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
The Share Class Initiative - On February 12, 2018, the Division of Enforcement of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced the Share Class Selection Disclosure Initiative (Initiative), which informed SEC...more
The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) has made a concerted effort over the last several years to address investment advisers’ conflicts of interests and to establish standards for associated disclosure failures...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 Division of Enforcement (Division) of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on February 12, 2018, announced a Share Class Selection Disclosure Initiative (SCSD Initiative). Led by the Division’s Asset...more
On February 12, 2018, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) Enforcement Division announced a new initiative in its continued effort to seek reimbursement for clients of fee-based investment advisers which failed...more
On February 12, 2018, the Division of Enforcement of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced the Share Class Selection Disclosure Initiative (Initiative) to encourage SEC registered investment advisers...more
After several years of examination focus and a series of enforcement actions, the SEC’s Enforcement Division on February 12 announced a “Share Class Selection Disclosure Initiative” in an attempt to level-set industry...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