Any story about the SEC, funds, gifts will catch my attention. Last week, the Staff of the SEC’s Division of Investment Management issued IM Guidance Update No. 2015-1 on gifts and entertainment in the fund industry. The Guidance refers to section Section 17(e)(1), which did not seem familiar to me. The reference is to the … Read more »
Category: Compliance Programs
The Lure of Wyoming
There is a long history of splitting financial regulatory oversight between state regulators and federal regulators. For investment advisers the split is based on Assets Under Management and Dodd-Frank raised the AUM level from $25 million to $100 million. Above that level you register with the SEC and below that level you register with the … Read more »
Testing for the Avalanche
As Nassim Nicholas Taleb famously explained in The Black Swan, it is the unexpected that is most unexpected. For compliance professionals, testing is one of the tools that tries to expose the unexpected. I was thinking about testing as I was out in the snowpack in my front yard. I tried out some of the … Read more »
Making a Bigger Compliance Mistake After Making a Big Compliance Mistake
Total Wealth Management became one of the whipping boys for the Securities and Exchange Commission when it started its focus on private fund fees last year. The firm settled with the SEC and agreed to pay the fine. But the firm exacerbated the problem by allegedly misappropriating the money from its clients. Last year, the … Read more »
Related Party Mistakes with Private Funds
Related party transactions are rife with problems in all areas of the financial services industry. It’s hard to know if someone is looking out for your best interest, if they have interests on the other side of a transaction. Most private equity funds have some structure set up in the organizational documents to deal with … Read more »
Backtesting Performance Failure
One area of performance advertising that the Securities and Exchange Commission has given great scrutiny, but not banned, is using backtested performance. Since, backtesting only shows theoretical past trades, it does not involve market risk. That means it’s inherently suspect. You can just keep fine-tuning the model to maximize results, with no ability to carry … Read more »
Stealing From Investors Through Fraudulent Expenses
The Securities and Exchange Commission charged a hedge fund manager, his investment advisory firm, and an employee with stealing from investors in two hedge funds. The theft was carried out by charging more than $1 million for fraudulent research expenses and fees. According to the SEC complaint, Steven R. Markusen, the owner of Archer Advisors … Read more »
SEC Issues Second Exemptive Relief from Pay-to-Play
It’s been about a year since the Securities and Exchange Commission granted its first exemptive order Rule 206(4)-5 when an adviser accidentally violated the pay-to-play rule. The SEC has now issued its second relief order. Ares Real Estate Management Holdings filed for exemptive relief after a senior partner wrote a $1,100 check to Colorado Governor … Read more »
Cheating Your Way to Marathon Victory
Tabitha Manning ran the Chickamauga Battlefield Marathon setting a personal best record time of 2:54:21. But it looks like she pulled a Rosie Ruiz. For those of you not familiar with the history of the Boston Marathon, Rosie Ruiz was declared the winner of the 1980 Boston Marathon with a time of 2:31:56. At that … Read more »
Compliance Bricks and Mortar for October 24
These are some of the compliance-related stories that recently caught my attention. SEC Charges Athena Capital in First HFT Case in the Corporate Crime Reporter The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has sanctioned a New York City-based high frequency trading firm for placing a large number of aggressive, rapid-fire trades in the final two seconds … Read more »