These are some of the compliance-related stories that recently caught my attention. The key to hedge-fund riches: your retirement dollars by Timothy Spangler in The Guardian First, there is the misconception that “there are no restrictions on what they can invest in.” This is true. They can invest the same way Sir Richard Branson or … Read more »
Spot the Fraudster
One of the challenges that consumers face when dealing with a financial adviser is what it means to be a “financial adviser.” The terms financial planner, wealth consultant, stockbroker, investment adviser, financial consultant, and others get thrown around, leaving you how that person gets paid for helping you with your money. A fraudster may sling … Read more »
Secure Borders
What do compliance and border security have in common? More than you might initially think. Try reading Sylvia Longmire’s Border Insecurity. Some of the issues with border security will resonate with compliance professionals. (Hopefully, you don’t have to deal with illegal immigration, human trafficking, terrorism and drug smuggling as the compliance issues at your company.) … Read more »
Making Compliance Easier
At PEI ‘s Private Fund Compliance Forum, one attendee asked how to make compliance easier. That caught the room by surprise. If compliance was easy, we would likely would not be at the Forum. But it did get me thinking about ways to make compliance easier. First, compliance is hard because the laws we comply … Read more »
Compliance Bricks and Mortar for May 30
These are some of the compliance-related stories that recently caught my attention: Cybersecurity Crackdown in ThinkAdvisor Think that your firm is too small or that your cyberdefenses are too strong to worry about digital attacks on your firm’s—and your clients’—data? The SEC and FINRA don’t think so. A reading of the regulators’ official announcements and … Read more »
Private Equity at Work
Eileen Appelbaum and Rosemary Batt tried to take an academic look at private equity firms and published their results in Private Equity at Work: When Wall Street Manages Main Street. The authors paint the world in black and white. They present the book as a question of whether private equity firms are (1) financial innovators … Read more »
Fees, Expenses and the S.E.C.
Andrew Bowden threw a grenade at the private fund industry three weeks ago when he spoke at PEI’s Private Fund Compliance Forum. He said that the SEC found violations of law or material weaknesses in over 50% of the exams they had conducted of private equity funds when it came to fees and expenses. Mr. … Read more »
Weekend Reading: The Sea & Civilization
Lincoln Paine wants to change your view of the world. He wants you to focus on the blue parts of the map that cover over 70% of the world’s surface. In his book, The Sea and Civilization, he makes that case that mankind’s technological and social adaptation to the water has been a driving force … Read more »
Compliance Bricks and Mortar for May 23
These are some of the compliance-related stories that recently caught my attention. SEC Enforcement Director: What Empowered Compliance Looks Like by Jaclyn Jaeger in Compliance Week “Companies that have done well in avoiding significant regulatory issues typically have prioritized legal and compliance issues and developed a strong culture of compliance across their business lines,” said … Read more »
What is an “Instrumentality” under the FCPA?
If your are trying to figure out whether a company is a private company or an “instrumentality” of a foreign government under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act you are already in trouble. To reach that point in the FCPA analysis you’ve already paid a bribe, or are thinking of paying a bribe. (If you’re just … Read more »