Doug Cornelius on compliance for private equity real estate
If you’re going to commit financial fraud, you need to figure out a way not only to deceive your “investors” but also the gatekeepers involved in the process. Your auditor is going to ask questions and not issue financial statements if there is fraud. Your prime broker and custodian are going to ask questions. Hedonova … Read more »
Disclosure of conflicts is a cornerstone is a cornerstone of the regulation of investment adviser. 3D/L Capital Management clearly came up short. 3D/L entered into an arrangement with an ETF manager that would provide a revenue share to 3D/L they labeled an “onboarding fee.” The SEC complaint points out that the onboarding fee creates a … Read more »
The Securities and Exchange Commission issued a Staff Review of the “Accredited Investor” Definition at the end of 2023. The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act directs the SEC to review the accredited investor definition every four years. The Staff previously reviewed the definition in 2015 and in 2019 (as part of the Concept Release on Harmonization of … Read more »
We all saw this train coming down the tracks. Even the hacker who took over the SEC’s Twitter account announcing the approval, merely jumped the gun. The Securities and Exchange Commission, by a 3-2 vote, authorized a dozen spot Bitcoin exchange traded products. Gary Gensler’s SEC has been trying stem the tide and prevent crypto … Read more »
It’s coming down to crunch time on the Corporate Transparency Act. Passed as part of the National Defense Authorization Act for 202, it requires companies to submit a report of their beneficial ownership and control to the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes and Enforcement Center. For new companies, this information has to be submitted … Read more »
Buying and selling securities is often equated with gambling. (The differences are that you can hold your securities and keep winning without making any bets.) Gamblers and investors are always looking for an edge to increase their odds of success. When it comes to investing, that edge can be the misuse of insider information. The … Read more »
The collapse of the Bumadinho Dam in Brazil in 2019 was a disaster. The structure was holding back iron ore waste before it collapsed, sending million of tons of toxic waste into the village of Córrego do Feijão. It killed 270 people. The dam was controlled by the Brazilian mining company: Vale S.A. Clearly a … Read more »
Calculating fund fees during the commitment period is usually easy for most private equity funds. Take the committed capital and multiply it by the applicable fee percentage. After the commitment period, the calculation often gets more complicated. Most funds have some reduction to actual capital deployed with deductions for write-downs and partial realizations. Global Infrastructure … Read more »
On January 27, the SEC’s Division of Examinations published a Risk Alert on the EXAMS staff Observations from Examinations of Private Fund Advisers. The Risk Alert is labeled as a follow up to the 2020 Observations from Examinations of Investment Advisers Managing Private Funds and the 2017 The Five Most Frequent Compliance Topics. The EXAMS … Read more »
I’ve been critical before of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Attack on May. Personally, I’ve always viewed “may” as a permissive position when it comes to disclosure. The SEC thinks its completely inadequate. The SEC view is that if an investment adviser always takes the fee or usually take the fee, “may” is inadequate. How often … Read more »