On June 5, 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit unanimously vacated a rule the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) enacted in August 2023 that was intended to protect investors who invest in certain private funds and prevent fraud by the investment advisers to Private Funds.
Continue Reading U.S. Appeals Court Vacates SEC Private Fund Adviser Rule
On Sept. 6, 2023, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Examinations issued a Risk Alert detailing the Division’s examination selection process for SEC-registered investment advisers (Advisers). The Risk Alert highlights the Division’s risk-based approach for both (A) selecting Advisers to examine and (B) determining examination focus areas and documents.
The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) released a Discussion Paper (DP23/2: Updating and improving the UK regime for asset management) in February 2023 which recognises that, as a consequence of Brexit, it is time to consider what the shape of the UK’s asset management regulatory regime will take in the future.
On Oct. 26, 2021, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Division of Examinations issued a Risk Alert in which it identified observations from examinations under its registered investment company initiative, first announced in 2018. The Risk Alert summarized examination conclusions from funds in six categories, although the staff noted that its observations “can assist all
On Jan. 13, 2021, the Division of Investment Management staff (Staff) of the Securities and Exchange Commission (Commission) issued a no-action letter advising that it would not recommend enforcement action to the Commission under Section 17(f) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 (1940 Act), and paragraphs (b)-(f) of Rule 17f-2 thereunder, if certain registered
Proxy advisory firms (Proxy Firms) have long provided institutional investors advice and recommendations with respect to management and shareholder proxy proposals. In recent years, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has expressed concerns over the accuracy, process, and conflicts of interests that may affect such advice and recommendations. Consequently, the SEC proposed amendments to the
The Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) released its annual list of 2020 Examination Priorities on Jan. 7, 2020. Many of OCIE’s 2020 examination priorities, including the focus on retail investors, fraud, conflicts (and related disclosures), among others, are perennial risk areas that OCIE routinely prioritizes.
On Jan. 7, the SEC announced the publication of the annual Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) 2020 Examination Priorities. In addition to the examination priorities themselves, the 28-page publication includes statistics related to OCIE’s 2019 examination program, touting OCIE’s completion of over 3,000 examinations covering ~15% of registered investment advisers and verification of
On March 21, 2019, in Whitaker v. Wedbush Securities, an Illinois appellate court for the first time addressed the liability of a futures commission merchant (FCM) or broker-dealer (BD) under Section 4A-105 of the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC).
By way of background, a customer of an FCM dually registered as a BD ostensibly requested
On March 21, 2019, in Van Dyke v. Jesse White, the Illinois Supreme Court issued a long-awaited opinion relating to Illinois Securities Department authority to regulate annuities under the Illinois Securities Law of 1953 (Act).
By way of background, in 2011, the Illinois Securities Department audited Richard Lee Van Dyke following complaints from the