Section 47(b) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 provides that contracts that violate or “whose performance involves, a violation of” the act are not enforceable by “either party.” ...more
1/30/2025
/ Corporate Governance ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Investment ,
Investment Company Act of 1940 ,
Investment Funds ,
Investment Management ,
Mutual Funds ,
Private Right of Action ,
SCOTUS ,
Section 47(b) ,
Securities Litigation ,
Securities Regulation ,
Securities Violations ,
Shareholders
In a recent enforcement action, the SEC concluded that the relationship between James Craigie and an officer of Church & Dwight Co. fatally undermined Craigie’s status as an “independent director” of the company under New...more
1/28/2025
/ Board of Directors ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Independent Directors ,
Investment Adviser ,
Mutual Funds ,
NYSE ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation
“Tontines” are a very old form of investment, and there have been many variations. The basic idea is that the longest surviving investors in tontines will be credited with tontine assets attributable to investors who...more
Regulators Hit Jackpot: Off-Channel Communications -
Several years before announcing the first “off-channel” communications enforcement action, the SEC and FINRA cautioned broker-dealers and investment advisers about...more
10/11/2023
/ Annuities ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Best Interest Standard ,
Breach of Contract ,
Class Action ,
COBRA ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Insurance Products ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employment Litigation ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Financial Contracts ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Health Insurance ,
Insider Trading ,
Insurance Fraud ,
Insurance Litigation ,
Insurance Regulations ,
Interlocutory Appeals ,
Investment Management ,
Life Insurance ,
Money Market Funds ,
Mutual Funds ,
NAIC ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
No-Action Letters ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
NYDFS ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Retirement ,
Robocalling ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Fraud ,
State and Local Government ,
Wage and Hour
Those with nonpublic information about a merger or acquisition involving a company appear to be profiting by trading in shares of exchange-traded funds based on indexes that include such companies’ shares, according to a...more
The SEC has proposed to require that mutual funds — including funds supporting variable insurance products — provide “consistent, comparable, and reliable” disclosure that is meaningful to investors about the role of...more
Insurance and Investment Firms Breathe Easier -
On December 4, 2019, the Financial Stability Oversight Council adopted final interpretive guidance on addressing systemic threats to the financial system that prioritizes the...more
2/12/2020
/ Consumer Insurance Products ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FSOC ,
Interpretive Rule ,
Life Insurance ,
Mutual Funds ,
Mutual Insurance Companies ,
Regulatory Burden ,
SIFIs ,
Too Big to Fail
In Release No. 33-10618 (Mar. 20, 2019), the SEC adopted amendments (the “Amendments”) that consolidate, conform, and otherwise refine numerous requirements applicable to filings with the agency. ...more
4/9/2019
/ Consumer Insurance Products ,
Filing Requirements ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Life Insurance ,
Mutual Funds ,
New Amendments ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Variable Annuities
New York Pushes Mutual Fund Active Share Disclosure -
New York’s Attorney General issued a report on its recent investigation of fees charged by actively managed equity mutual funds and a metric known as “Active Share.”...more
7/23/2018
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Administrative Proceedings ,
Annuities ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Churning ,
Class Action ,
COI Rates ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Data Security ,
Filing Requirements ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Insurance Investment Products ,
Investment Companies ,
Life Insurance ,
Lucia v SEC ,
MassMutual ,
Mutual Funds ,
NAIC ,
Policy Terms ,
Preemption ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
SLUSA ,
Unclaimed Property
Regulators Demand Third-Party Risk Management -
While third-party risk management has been a required component of an effective enterprise risk management program for many years, the topic is receiving elevated attention...more
4/18/2017
/ Article III ,
Clean Shares ,
Elder Abuse ,
Exploitation ,
Fiduciary Exception ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Injury-in-Fact ,
Insurance Industry ,
Insurance Litigation ,
Life Insurance ,
Mutual Funds ,
NAIC ,
Reinsurance ,
Sales Commissions ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Settlement Cycles ,
Spokeo v Robins ,
Standing ,
Third Party Funding ,
Third-Party Risk ,
Unfair Competition Law (UCL) ,
Variable Annuities ,
Vulnerable Victims
SEC staff in December issued a Guidance Update that provides significant flexibility regarding how mutual funds and variable annuities (VAs) reflect multiple charge structures in their SEC registration statements....more
On March 22, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“Commission”) adopted a rule amendment that shortens the time by which most securities transactions effected by a broker-dealer are required to settle. Under the amendment,...more
A recent SEC no-action letter gives broker-dealers more time to perform suitability and other reviews when opening certain customer accounts.
The firms requesting the letter were affiliated with three different insurance...more
- AXA Prevails at First Post-Jones v. Harris Excessive Fee Trial
- Potential Secondary Effects of Regulatory Examinations: Evidentiary Issues and Preclusion in Parallel Litigation
- On The Horizon: Global...more
10/31/2016
/ Administrative Proceedings ,
Annuities ,
Business Continuity Plans ,
CFTC ,
Class Action ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Protection ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
EU ,
European Economic Area (EEA) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Markets ,
FSB ,
Gartenberg Factors ,
Healthcare ,
Industry Examinations ,
Insurance Industry ,
Investment Companies ,
Life Insurance ,
Long Term Care Facilities ,
Long-Term Care ,
Meals-Gifts-and Entertainment Rules ,
Mutual Funds ,
NAIC ,
NYDFS ,
Passporting ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Retirement Plan ,
RICO ,
Risk Assessment ,
Securities ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Solvency II ,
UK ,
UK Brexit ,
Unicorns
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) staff has reportedly been asking mutual funds how they value their investments in “unicorns” – i.e., dynamic pre-IPO companies with market capitalization exceeding $1 billion, and...more
In July, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) announced an initiative to identify instances where registered investment advisers may be improperly influenced by...more
10/28/2016
/ 529 Plans ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Markets ,
Incentives ,
Investment Management ,
Mutual Funds ,
OCIE ,
Registered Investment Advisors ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Share Classes
- Fed Takes First Steps Toward Setting Capital Requirements for Some Insurers
- New Wave of COI Rate Increase Lawsuits Hits the Industry
- STOLI Policies Cancelled, Insurers Retain Premium
-...more
8/29/2016
/ Administrative Proceedings ,
Capital Requirements ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Death Master Files ,
Domain Names ,
Electronic Data Transmissions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Florida ,
Insurance Industry ,
Life Insurance ,
Mutual Funds ,
NAIC ,
National Technical Information Service (NTIS) ,
Pensions ,
Popular ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Spokeo v Robins ,
STOLI ,
Unclaimed Property
Guidance Update No. 2016-01, published this month by the SEC’s Division of Investment Management, provides extensive guidance concerning the possibility that payments from mutual funds are being used to promote sales of the...more
In This Issue:
IN THE SPOTLIGHT -
- Your Data Breach Collided With My Personal Injury Coverage
LIFE INSURANCE -
- Phantom Injury Dooms “Shadow Insurance” Case
- Latest NAIC Cybersecurity News...more
10/8/2015
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
AIG ,
Auto Body Shop ,
Bailout ,
Banking Sector ,
Banks ,
Big Data ,
Breach Notification Rule ,
Class Action ,
Compliance ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
CT Supreme Court ,
Cyber Threats ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Data Security ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Derivative Suit ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Disparate Impact ,
EB-5 ,
Fair Housing Act (FHA) ,
FFIEC ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Financial Institutions ,
Foreclosure ,
Healthcare ,
Insurance Industry ,
King v Burwell ,
Life Insurance ,
Mortgage Servicers ,
Mutual Funds ,
NAIC ,
Online Advertisements ,
Ransomware ,
Reassigned Phone Numbers ,
Regulation A ,
RI Supreme Court ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Standing ,
TCPA ,
Telecommunications ,
Treble Damages ,
Whistleblowers
Some members of Congress have come to the aid of the investment management industry in its battle to avoid determinations by the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) that any mutual funds or investment advisers...more