On September 12, 2024, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) finalized the first major changes to CFTC Regulation 4.7 (Rule 4.7) in over 30 years. Among other technical revisions, the amendments to Rule 4.7,...more
Fundraising’s Effect on Dealmaking - Fundraising has been challenging over the past 12 months, primarily driven by the fact that distributions have slowed as a result of the lack of exit opportunities....more
Key Points - On February 13, 2024, FinCEN issued an NPRM that seeks to include certain investment advisers in the definition of “financial institution” under the BSA. As described in the NPRM as well as in FinCEN’s fact...more
2/16/2024
/ AML/CFT ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
Chief Compliance Officers ,
Due Diligence ,
Exempt Reporting Advisers (ERAs) ,
Financial Institutions ,
FinCEN ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investors ,
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Proposed Rules ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Risk Assessment ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs)
On September 27, 2023, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a press release announcing charges against officers, directors and large investors in public companies for failure to timely make Section 16, Schedule...more
On June 8, 2023, the SEC Division of Examinations staff (EXAMS) published a risk alert focused on the new Marketing Rule (Rule 206(4)-1 under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940). While this new risk alert largely mirrors...more
On October 9, 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed an order that would exempt from registration as broker-dealers certain natural person “finders” who help locate investors in connection with the sale...more
- The OCIE of the SEC highlights that responses to COVID-19 present important regulatory and compliance issues for SEC registrants, including “heightened risks of misconduct” tied to recent market volatility.
- The Risk...more
8/21/2020
/ Asset Management ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Business Continuity Plans ,
Business Operations ,
Compliance ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Protection ,
Fees ,
Financial Transactions ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Fraud ,
Investment Management ,
Investors ,
OCIE ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Popular ,
Remote Working ,
Risk Alert ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Supervision
- Market participants should review and assess their compliance procedures to prevent and detect insider trading risks associated with COVID-19.
- Companies should increase their vigilance regarding cybersecurity threats...more
4/1/2020
/ CFTC ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Cybersecurity ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Crimes ,
Insider Trading ,
Investors ,
Phishing Scams ,
Pump and Dump ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Fraud ,
U.S. Treasury ,
Wire Fraud
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
1/10/2020
/ Advertising ,
Books & Records ,
Cash Solicitation Rule ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Advisers Act of 1940 ,
Investment Funds ,
Investment Management ,
Investors ,
Pooled Investment Vehicles ,
Proposed Amendments ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Securities Transactions
On December 19, 2019, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (FINRA) adopted amendments to Rules 5130 and 5131 (the “New Issues Rules”) to permit allocations of initial public offering (IPO) profits to certain...more
12/31/2019
/ Allocation of Funds ,
Amended Rules ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Covered Person ,
Employee Benefits ,
Exemptions ,
Family Offices ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Foreign Corporations ,
Foreign Investment ,
Foreign Offerings ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Companies ,
Investment Funds ,
Investment Management ,
Investors ,
Pension Funds
On August 21, 2019, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) voted 3 to 2 to adopt new interpretive guidance (the “Voting Interpretation”) applicable to investment advisers regarding their proxy voting responsibilities as...more
9/6/2019
/ Conflicts of Interest ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Duty of Care ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Informed Consent ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Management ,
Investors ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Proxy Advisors ,
Proxy Advisory Firms ,
Proxy Voting ,
Proxy Voting Guidelines ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Supervision
On Thursday, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Director of Corporate Finance William Hinman provided some long-desired clarity on the SEC’s approach to cryptocurrency regulation, announcing during Yahoo Finance’s...more
6/18/2018
/ Bitcoin ,
CFTC ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Digital Currency ,
Ether ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Investors ,
New Guidance ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Transactions ,
Token Sales
• Disclosures must inform investors about material cybersecurity risks and incidents, including addressing material cybersecurity risks for cyber-attacks that have not yet occurred.
• Comprehensive policies and procedures...more
3/1/2018
/ Cyber Attacks ,
Cyber Incident Reporting ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Financial Statements ,
Insider Trading ,
Investors ,
Materiality ,
MD&A Statements ,
New Guidance ,
Non-Public Information ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Regulation FD ,
Risk Assessment ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
The Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Corporation Finance posted a few additional interpretations (at 260.33 and 260.34) late January relating to the continuation of offerings commenced prior to September 23,...more
Regulation A currently permits issuers to conduct a limited-scale public offering and subjects issuers that use it to a lighter compliance burden as compared with larger public offerings. However, because of the costs of...more