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 »
Weekend Reading: Boys in the Boat
Do you hate Hitler? Do you like sports? Then Boys in the Boat is a book to add to your “To Read” list. In the middle of the Great Depression, Joe Rantz is a farmboy from the Pacific Northwest who was literally abandoned as a child and rarely had two pennies to rub together. He … Read more »
Happy Holidays From Compliance Building
I hope you have a happy and joyous holiday season. Whether it be Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza, Festivus, Feast of Winter Veil, Saturnalia, or New Year’s Eve, I hope you get to spend some extra time with friends and family. I will be trying to spend some extra time with my friends and family so … Read more »
Train Fares, Integrity, and Financial Services
On Monday Britain’s financial regulator banned a senior financial services professional from the industry for life. His transgression was the failure to pay his train fare. BlackRock director Jonathan Paul Burrows was caught by inspectors at Cannon Street station last year. Mr Burrows has admitted that, on a number of occasions, he deliberately and knowingly … Read more »
Real Estate Crowdfunding
Real estate investing has a long history of crowdfunding. Prior to the 1986 changes to the tax code, there was a large syndication business for getting investors into real estate. Although the investment was usually more for the tax breaks involved instead of income and capital appreciation. With the surge of product crowdfunding through sites … Read more »
Compliance Bricks and Mortar for December 12
These are some of the compliance-related stories that recently caught my attention. Mark Cuban vs. The SEC in WealthManagement.com The only way to reform what ails the Securities and Exchange Commission is to “burn it down and start again,” says Mark Cuban, billionaire entrepreneur, host of the television show “Shark Tank,” and the owner of … Read more »
SEC Demanding Audited Financial Statements for Funds’ REIT Subsidiaries
The Custody Rule is a well intentioned beast of regulation designed to prevent investment advisers from stealing money from their clients. The Rule works well for retail investment advisers and most hedge funds. It starts falling apart for private equity funds and real estate funds. The Securities and Exchange Commission tried providing some additional guidance … Read more »
Miscounting Residents as Securities Fraud
A recent SEC enforcement action caught my attention because it involved defrauding a landlord and miscounting residents. That left me scratching my head over why the Securities and Exchange Commission was involved with a senior living residence. The SEC Enforcement Division alleges that then-CEO Laurie Bebo and then-CFO John Buono made false disclosures and manipulated … Read more »
Compliance Bricks and Mortar for December 5
These are some of the compliance-related stories that recently caught my attention. Sherlock Holmes and Innovation in the Compliance Function, Part I – A Study In Scarlet by Tom Fox in the FCPA Compliance and Ethics Blog First I am back with an homage to Sherlock Holmes, for it was in the magazine Beeton’s Christmas … Read more »
Failure to Register with the SEC as an Investment Adviser
One of the questions that come up with private funds and Dodd-Frank was what would happen if you failed to register with the SEC? HSBC Holdings Plc found out for us. HSBC will pay $12.5 million to settle claims that its Swiss private-banking unit solicited U.S. investors without being registered. The Securities and Exchange Commission … Read more »