These are some of the compliance-related stories that recently caught my attention.
Big Settlements Elevate Compliance Officers in WSJ.com’s Risk & Compliance Journal
Recent white-collar settlements are case studies in how compliance officers are ignored, circumvented and sidelined. But that’s likely having the effect of giving these staffers more stature.
Companies Are Outsourcing the Chief Compliance Officer Job by Rachael Louise Ensign in the Wall Street Journal
A handful of companies have cropped up that provide these outsourced CCOs, who may fill the role at a number of companies at once. Proponents of the approach say it allows a smaller company to have the expertise of a full-time, independent compliance professional. But even they concede that the outsourcing option isn’t the best choice for all firms.
House provides SEC with $50 million budget boost
The House of Representatives approved a spending bill Wednesday that denies the Securities and Exchange Commission the funding it says it needs to strengthen investment adviser oversight.
In a 228-195 vote, the House passed a $21.3 billion appropriations bill that funds the SEC, Treasury Department and many other agencies. The measure gives the SEC a $50 million budget increase, about $300 million less than the agency requested. Under the bill, the SEC would operate on a $1.4 billion budget in fiscal 2015, which begins on Oct. 1.
The Absurdity of the Law on Insider Trading by J Robert Brown Jr. in theRacetotheBottom.org
Teaching about insider trading is always a pleasure. The law in this area is ridiculous. What seems to be insider trading may not be; what seems like it is often isn’t. Sometimes the facts of actual cases provide exam style questions that would otherwise seem almost too contrived to be real.
This came up in connection with the SEC’s action against a “group of friends, most of them golfing buddies” that alleged insider trading. See SEC Charges Group of Amateur Golfers in Insider Trading Ring, Press Release 2014-134. The complaint is here.
Private Fund Managers as Broker-Dealers and How to Avoid It by Jay B. Gould in the Investment Fund Law Blog
Private equity firms were put on notice last year that they may be subject to registration as broker dealers when David Blass, head of the Division of Markets and Trading at the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), provided his insights at an industry conference. Since that time, the SEC has published their examination priorities list, which included the presence exams of new registrants, a portion of which would review that status of private equity fund managers under the broker dealer rules. Following up on this warning to the industry, the SEC has also targeted unregistered brokers for enforcement action.
For you cyclists, the watercolor above is part of Kickstarter project that I’ve supported: Book de Tour by Greig Leach. Can you lend your support?