These are some compliance-related stories that recently caught my attention. A snapshot of this year’s disclosure avalanche by Theo Francis in Footnoted But the biggest filings are also getting bigger: While the top 20 filings in the first half of 2010 totaled 52,514 pages, the top 20 so far this year add up to 56,571 … Read more »
Category: Compliance Programs
How Close Should You Come to Crossing the Line?
It’s clearly wrong to break the law. How close should you come to the limit of what is legal and what is illegal? Let’s hear from a federal prosecutor: [I]f you are single-mindedly focused on walking the line, you are bound to end up afoul of regulators, and God forbid, criminal prosecutors. Even more dangerous … Read more »
Fund Adviser Not Liable for False Statements in Fund Prospectus
A recent ruling in favor of the Janus mutual funds’ adviser in the Supreme Court is continued fall out from the mutual fund market timing scandal from almost a decade ago. The prospectuses for several Janus funds represented that the funds were not suitable for market timing and could be read that Janus Capital Management … Read more »
Does it Matter Where the Signature Is?
Just about every compliance certification has the employee sign at the bottom. We have been signing letters and contracts at the end for millenia. But maybe there is a way to increase ethical performance by moving that signature to the top. Lisa L. Shu, Nina Mazar, Francesca Gino, Dan Ariely, and Max H. Bazerman recently … Read more »
Lessons from Wunderlich
I don’t take pleasure from others’ failings, but I do try to learn lessons. The recent settlement between Wunderlich Securities and the Securities and Exchange Commission is full of lessons to be learned. overcharged advisory clients for commissions and other transactional fees in violation of Section 206(2) of the Advisers Act failed to satisfy the … Read more »
Controls on Political Contributions
In the face of some pay-to-play scandals involving investment advisers and government sponsored investment fund officials, the Securities and Exchange Commission slapped restrictions on the ability of investment advisers and fund managers to make political contributions. Rule 206(4)-5 prohibits an investment manager or fund manager from collecting fees for two years if the firm or … Read more »
Near Misses, Catastrophes, and Compliance
The theme of the April edition of the Harvard Business Review is “Failure.” As scary as that term is in the world of compliance, “catastrophe” is even scarier. That means that the failure resulted is real, significant damage. But you can learn from failures. You can especially learn from others’ failures. In How to Avoid … Read more »
Failure and Compliance
The theme of the April edition of the Harvard Business Review is “Failure.” That’s a scary term in the world of compliance. Generally, that means you’ve got government regulators or enforcement personnel sitting in your offices. And they are not happy. Failure and compliance can mean disciplinary action, fines, or jail time. But you can … Read more »
Compliance Bits and Pieces for April 29
Here are some recent compliance-related stories that caught my eye: SFO GC resigns: SFO future cast into further doubt in The Bribery Act .com We’re delighted to congratulate Vivian Robinson QC on his reported move today from the SFO to join a US law firm, Richmond Virginia headquartered McGuire Woods, in the near future. We’ve … Read more »
Compliance Bits and Pieces – Good Friday Edition
The stock markets are closed, but most banks are open. I’m taking the day off from work, but wanted to highlight a few compliance-related stories that caught my eye. Justice is served, but more so after lunch: how food-breaks sway the decisions of judges by Ed Yong in Discover’s Not Exactly Rocket Science There’s an … Read more »