Due to the high volume of relevant judicial decisions issued by New York courts over the past two years, the risk that enforceability of a merchant cash advance (MCA) contract might be successfully challenged as a disguised...more
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has now made it clear that, in its view, certain initial coin offerings (ICOs) within the United States or affecting U.S. residents may be within its jurisdiction. On October...more
10/19/2017
/ Blockchain ,
CFTC ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Currency ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Financial Markets ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Token Sales ,
Unregistered Securities ,
Virtual Currency
Two initial coin offerings (ICOs) were the target of a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) enforcement action filed on September 29. Based on the SEC’s descriptions, both ICOs, on their face, appear to be frauds, with...more
10/5/2017
/ Blockchain ,
Digital Currency ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Markets ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Violations ,
Token Sales ,
Unregistered Securities ,
Virtual Currency
In a long-awaited move, the SEC released amendments to Form ADV, the uniform form used by investment advisers to register with, or report to, the SEC and state securities authorities. The changes are effective for filings...more
Many initial coin offerings (ICOs) have recently raised large amounts of capital without the regulatory constraints of traditional initial public offerings (IPOs) and other capital-raising strategies. On July 25, the U.S....more
7/28/2017
/ Blockchain ,
Digital Currency ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Markets ,
Howey ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Popular ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Violations ,
Token Sales ,
Unregistered Securities ,
Virtual Currency
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently released additional interpretations of the Custody Rule, Rule 206(4)-2 under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. Registered investment advisers that have custody of...more
If you have been following our alerts on the pending deadlines (and the delays of these deadlines by certain regulators) of the new swap variation margin rules (New Swap Margin Rules) that were due to go into effect on March...more
2/27/2017
/ Banks ,
CFTC ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Deadlines ,
Depository Institutions ,
EU ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Institutions ,
Major Swap Participants ,
Margin Requirements ,
OCC ,
Swap Dealers ,
Swap Market ,
Swaps
Although the letter technically does not delay the effective date of March 1, 2017, from the perspective of the buy side, the letter functions as a “grace period,” and the compliance date has been moved to September 1, 2017....more
Because of the implementation of new regulatory requirements relating to both variation and initial margin for swaps, swap documentation for many market participants is about to become much more complicated....more
2/13/2017
/ AIG ,
Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) ,
CFTC ,
Credit Support Annex (CSA) ,
Dodd-Frank ,
End-Users ,
Financial Institutions ,
FX Swaps ,
ISDA ,
Jurisdiction ,
Margin Requirements ,
Over The Counter Derivatives (OTC) ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Securities ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Swap Dealers ,
Swap Market ,
Swaps
Regardless of whether or not Midland’s case is successful at the district court, there are a number of reasons why the Second Circuit’s Madden decision is not as disastrous as some have portrayed it to be.
On June 27,...more
7/8/2016
/ Banking Sector ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Lenders ,
Debt Buyers ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Interest Rates ,
Lending Club ,
Madden v Midland Funding ,
Online Marketplace Lending ,
Petition for Writ of Certiorari ,
SCOTUS ,
Solicitor General ,
Usury ,
Valid When Made Doctrine
Industry participants are well-advised to review their practices to ensure compliance with the Advisers Act, and the SEC’s and SEC’s Staff’s interpretations of when registration as a broker-dealer is required....more
It is important for registered investment advisers to determine if the correct workers – regardless of employee or consultant labels — have been designated as Access Persons.
Originally published as a guest post on Hedge...more
The new standard requires broker-dealers providing advice with respect to IRAs to put their client’s interests ahead of their own.
The U.S. Department of Labor released new rules on April 6 that materially enlarge the...more
There are a number of issues that FinCEN must still address, but comments to the proposed rule do not raise any material issues that will prevent the agency from issuing a final rule in 2016.
The Financial Crimes...more
On October 30, 2015, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted final crowdfunding rules. More than two years after the publication of the proposed crowdfunding rules, the SEC approved regulations that permit...more
11/4/2015
/ Blue Sky Laws ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Capital Raising ,
Compliance ,
Crowdfunding ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
EDGAR ,
Federal Register ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Investment ,
Investors ,
JOBS Act ,
Regulation D ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Rule 506 Offerings ,
Securities Act of 1933 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
The U.S. Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) published a notice of proposed rulemaking (the Proposed Rule) on September 1, 2015 that would impose anti-money laundering (AML) requirements for investment...more
10/2/2015
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
BSA/AML ,
Closed-End Funds ,
Compliance ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Financial Institutions ,
FinCEN ,
Investment ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investors ,
Money Laundering ,
Mutual Funds ,
Patriot Act ,
Pooled Investment Vehicles ,
Registered Investment Advisors ,
SAR ,
SBIC ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) ,
U.S. Treasury
The Treasury Department’s notice and request poses 14 detailed questions to gather public information concerning the role of marketplace lending in the financial services industry.
On July 16, 2015, the U.S. Department...more
7/27/2015
/ Consumer Lenders ,
Financial Institutions ,
HMDA ,
Lenders ,
Mortgage Lenders ,
Mortgages ,
Peer-to-Peer ,
Real Estate Market ,
Risk Retention ,
Small Business ,
Student Loans ,
U.S. Treasury
Pepper partners Gregory J. Nowak and Steven D. Bortnick presented a webinar for West LegalEdCenter discussing issues that affect private funds and their managers.
Over the hour program, Mr. Nowak and Mr. Bortnick covered a...more
In This Presentation:
- Trademarks – not just for consumer companies
- Strength of a Trademark: Categories
- Choosing a Trademark
- Obtaining Protection – Common Law Rights
- Obtaining...more
In This Presentation:
- Personnel Changes
- Insider Trading
- Pay to play prohibitions under fire
- F Squared – Administrative proceeding (December 22, 2014)
- Reliance Financial Advisors --...more
Investment Management Update - January 2015
This podcast is a recording of the January 2015 webinar that Pepper partner Gregory J. Nowak participated on for West LegalEdcenter.
Mr. Nowak discussed a regulatory outlook...more
Pepper Hamilton’s Julia D. Corelli and PEF Services’ Anne Anquillare and Mark Heil, joined Pepper’s Gregory J. Nowak for his monthly webinar which he hosts for West LegalEdcenter. This month the webinar discussed a recent...more
Excerpt from Question 1:
Your firm is visited by the SEC or state regulator for a routine regulatory examination and you enlist a law firm or consultant to help guide you through the process. Who pays the legal or...more
In This Presentation:
- History of Obama’s First Six Years
- Constitutional Constraints
- Several Rules That Wrankle
- Market Constraints
- Crystal Ball Prognostications
- Excerpt...more
12/12/2014
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Employer Mandates ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Great Recession ,
Hedge Funds ,
Investment Management ,
JOBS Act ,
Obama Administration ,
Quantitative Easing ,
TARP
In This Presentation:
- WHY IS DATA PRIVACY AND SECURITY IMPORTANT?
..Why is it important to protect data?
..SEC Cybersecurity Risk Alert
..FINRA Scrutiny
- BEFORE THE BREACH
...more