Here are some recent compliance-related stories that caught my attention. The Saga of MF Global – Don’t Shoot the Messenger, Fire the Chief Compliance Officer by Tom Fox Both the DOJ minimum best practices and the amendment to the US Sentencing Guidelines, giving the CCO direct access to a company’s Board of Directors, would seem … Read more »
Category: Compliance Programs
The Cost of Regulating Fund Managers and Investment Advisers
A group of organizations with Investment Adviser stakeholders engaged the Boston Consulting Group to conduct an economic analysis of IA oversight scenarios (.pdf) in the Securities and Exchange Commission’s study released in January 2011. The analysis came down solidly in favor of increased funding of the SEC as the solution for increased oversight of investment … Read more »
Compliance and the South Pole
We reckoned now that we were at the Pole. Of course, every one of us knew that we were not standing on the absolute spot; it would be an impossibility with the time and the instruments at our disposal to ascertain that exact spot. But we were so near it that the few miles which … Read more »
SEC Targeting Suspicious Investment Returns
Last week, the SEC announced THREE actions against investment advisers for compliance failures. The Securities and Exchange Commission has turned the dial a little higher and announced FOUR enforcement actions against multiple hedge funds by identifying abnormal investment performance. (Does their dial turn all the way up to 11?) The SEC launched an initiative to … Read more »
Compliance Officer Banned in the United Kingdom
As a compliance officer, I often find that many lessons come from enforcement actions. Those actions imposed on compliance officers are especially instructive. The latest to catch my attention comes from the United Kingdom. The Financial Services Authority levied a £14,000 fine and banned a compliance officer from performing any significant influence function in regulated … Read more »
Outsourcing Compliance and the CCO
One of the requirements of registration as a registered investment adviser is the appointment of a Chief Compliance Officer and the establishment of a formal compliance program. The SEC stated that a firm need not hire a new person to be the CCO. However, there will be a substantial time commitment. You can spread some … Read more »
Some New Financial Legislation is Moving Along
Four bills made their way through the Capital Markets and Government Sponsored Enterprises Subcommittee of the House Financial Services Committee. Private Company Flexibility and Growth Act (H.R. 2167) Access to Capital for Job Creators Act (H.R. 2940) Entrepreneur Access to Capital Act (H.R. 2930) The Small Company Job Growth and Regulatory Relief Act (H.R. ____) The Private … Read more »
2011 LexisNexis Corporate and Securities Law Blog Nominees
For the second year, LexisNexis is seeking your input in choosing the top blogs for their Corporate and Securities Law Community. (Warning, this post post contains blatant self-promotion.) Looking at the list of candidates, I see many blogs that I read regularly. But there are several on the list that I had not heard of … Read more »
Crowdfunding
It’s hard to raise capital. The regulatory restrictions imposed by securities laws make it harder to do so. As any bright-eyed entrepreneur with a dream project will tell you, the lawyers and the securities laws make it very expensive and time consuming to raise capital for a small project. The central goal of the Securities … Read more »
Was Full Tilt Poker a Ponzi Scheme?
The United States Government forced online poker sites to the fringes of the financial system. The U.S. government has long argued that online poker gambling is illegal under the Wire Act, a 1961 law that explicitly prohibits sports betting conducted over electronic communication. In 2006, Congress made it illegal for financial institutions to process funds … Read more »