On January 18, 2018, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Division of Investment Management broke its relative silence regarding the recent growth of cryptocurrencies and cryptocurrency-related products. While...more
The staff of the SEC’s Division of Investment Management released this week a series of frequently asked questions (FAQs) regarding new Rule 22e-4 (the “Liquidity Rule”). The Liquidity Rule requires non-money market mutual...more
As summer recedes and we head into the autumn, investment advisers are in the home stretch of preparations for Form ADV reporting and disclosure changes that become effective October 1, 2017. The amendments, which were...more
In a letter dated September 22, 2017, the SEC staff agreed to extend previous relief that enables registered fund groups to fulfill regulatory requirements under Regulation S-X if the accounting firm auditing the funds’...more
The National Exam Program of the SEC’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) recently published its observations from the second generation of its Cybersecurity Initiative. It reported overall improvement...more
Currently pending amendments to Form ADV have a compliance date of October 1, 2017 and, as of that date, an adviser filing an initial Form ADV or an amendment to an existing Form ADV must use the revised Form ADV. In an...more
In a letter to the Investment Adviser Association (IAA), the Staff of the Division of Investment Management said that investment advisers acting pursuant to a standing letter of instruction or other similar asset transfer...more
In a new Risk Alert, OCIE’s National Exam Program provided investment advisers with insight into the five compliance topics most frequently identified in its exam deficiency letters. Registered investment advisers should...more
REGULATION -
DOL Issues Additional Guidance on Fiduciary Rule -
On January 13, 2017, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued a second set of guidance on its new fiduciary rules, which are scheduled to become...more
2/2/2017
/ Attorney-Client Privilege ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Brokers ,
Capital Acquisition Broker (CAB) ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Cross-Selling ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Examination Priorities ,
Exploitation ,
Fiduciary Rule ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Investment Adviser ,
Liquidity Risk Management Rule ,
Mutual Funds ,
OCIE ,
Pay-To-Play ,
Sales Load Variations ,
Section 36(b) ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Swing Pricing ,
Trustees
The SEC banned the managing member and chief compliance officer of a registered investment adviser from the securities industry for illegal “cherry-picking” investments among the adviser’s managed accounts. The SEC staff...more
A recent enforcement action by FINRA underscores the regulator’s continuing concern regarding how financial advisers are paid to sell investment products. In a case announced on November 28, 2016, a member firm settled...more
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently amended Form ADV to require investment advisers to disclose more information about their separately managed account business, aggregate data related to the use of...more
9/1/2016
/ Asset Class ,
Books & Records ,
Borrowers ,
Custodians ,
Derivatives ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Form ADV ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Advisers Act of 1940 ,
Private Equity ,
RAUM ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Umbrella Registration
In a series of enforcement actions this week, the SEC made it clear that investment advisers need to substantiate the performance records of investment management firms they recommend to their clients. In these cases,...more
Regulation -
Next on the SEC’s Regulatory Agenda: A Chief Valuation Officer? -
First, the SEC required funds to designate a chief compliance officer. Then, the SEC proposed that funds designate a liquidity...more
8/16/2016
/ Advisors Act ,
Auditors ,
BDC ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Business Continuity Plans ,
Business Development Companies ,
CFTC ,
Commodity Futures Contracts ,
Commodity Pool ,
Customer Due Diligence (CDD) ,
ETFs ,
FinCEN ,
FSOC ,
OCIE ,
Private Equity ,
Qualified Client ,
Risk Management ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
Business development companies, which provide a growing and important alternative source of capital to smaller companies, face challenges raising money due to a quirk in the federal securities laws that limits how much mutual...more
Business development companies (BDCs), which provide a growing and important alternative source of capital to smaller companies, face challenges raising money due to a quirk in the federal securities laws that limits how much...more
Last week, OCIE published a National Exam Program Risk Alert highlighting the staff’s focus on advisers’ responsibility to act consistently with their clients’ best interests. According to OCIE, its latest sweep examination,...more
At an open meeting this week, the SEC voted to propose changes to certain disclosure rules affecting public issuers including, among others, investment companies and business development companies (BDCs)....more
The SEC’s Division of Investment Management published regulatory guidance on June 28, 2016, highlighting the need for registered investment company complexes to review their business continuity plans to ensure they are...more
Add fund administrators to the list of service providers the SEC expects to act as “gatekeepers.” In two separate settled actions last week, the SEC found that a private fund administrator “caused” the managers’ unregistered...more
Structured Notes Offered on an Agency Basis -
In our last issue, we discussed the potential impact of the Department of Labor’s new rules on sales of structured products. In that article, we discussed some of the...more
5/31/2016
/ Comment Period ,
Debt ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Deposit Accounts ,
FDIC ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Offerings ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Regulation S-K ,
Retirement Plan ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Structured Financial Products ,
Underwriting
On May 23, 2016, at FINRA’s annual conference in Washington, D.C., Richard Ketchum, FINRA’s chairman and CEO, delivered a speech that shed a little light on FINRA’s recent sweep letter relating to firm culture....more
The SEC recently approved FINRA’s new Rule 2273 (Educational Communication Related to Recruitment Practices and Account Transfers), which requires delivery of an educational communication prepared by FINRA to customers of a...more
Regulation -
Department of Labor Issues Fiduciary Regulations Under ERISA -
The Department of Labor (DOL) issued its long-anticipated final regulation (the “Regulation”) defining who is a fiduciary as a result of...more
2016 has arrived and, with the new year, FINRA has published its agenda of key examination priorities. This year’s 13-page Regulatory and Examination Priorities Letter sets forth both long-standing and new items for firms to...more