Last year a new rule from the Securities and Exchange Commission went into effect that limited the ability of investment advisers and private fund managers to make political campaign contributions. The purpose was to prevent some illicit pay-to-play activity by government officials who control government sponsored investment funds. With the close of the national political … Read more »
The Vice President and SEC’s Pay to Play Rule
Now that the Democratic and Republican conventions have ended and the presidential tickets are final, we can look at how the SEC’s new rule on political contributions will affect the November election. It won’t. Early in the Republican contest for the nomination, Rick Perry was on the watch list under Rule 206(4)-5. Since he could … Read more »
Real Estate Investment Fraud or Securities Fraud?
The SEC announced an asset freeze against Western Financial Planning Corporation and its principal Louis Schooler. At first the situation sounded like a complaint against a real estate investment fund, but after reviewing the complaint, I found it to be a much more twisted tale. The defendants have not agreed to settle with the SEC, … Read more »
Compliance Bits and Pieces – Private Fund Advertising Edition
Last week’s release of the SEC’s game plan for allowing advertising for the private placement of securities will cause a big shift in what the public is able to see. As stated in the release of the proposed rule, the private market is nearly as big as the public capital markets. In 2011, $895 billion … Read more »
Financial Illiteracy Found in Study of Financial Literacy
“Understanding the needs of investors is critical to carrying out the Commission’s investor protection mission,” said SEC Chairman Mary L. Schapiro. Section 917 of Dodd-Frank required the SEC to study the existing level of financial literacy among retail investors. The study was recently released and paints an ugly picture. Here’s a key quote: These studies … Read more »
506(c) and General Solicitation and Advertising in Securities Offerings
Section 201(a)(1) of the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act (the “JOBS Act”) directs the Securities and Exchange Commission to amend Rule 506 of Regulation D. Congress wants to permit general solicitation or general advertising in offerings made under Rule 506, provided that all purchasers of the securities are accredited investors. With one caveat: the issuer … Read more »
FBI and FCPA
In addition to learning about the FBI’s compliance program, understanding white collar criminals, and a visit to the FBI Academy, the FBI Corporate Compliance Officer Outreach Event included a very frank discussion of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The program brought in attorneys from the Department of Justice to discuss their approach to bringing FCPA … Read more »
Marathon Times, Lies, and Paul Ryan
I generally stay away from politics when it comes to any stories about compliance and ethics. Politicians spend too much time spinning the facts and bending the truth. When it comes to policy, the facts rarely tell a black and white story about whether the policy worked, so I can forgive most of the spin. … Read more »
Compliance Bits and Pieces for August 24
These are some compliance related stories that recently caught my attention. The FCPA Compliance Strategic Plan – Some Lessons for the Astros by Tom Fox I pondered over Stephen’s thought on the subject of a strategic plan recently when I heard the Houston Astros General Manager say that he was not sure what plan he … Read more »
A Visit to the FBI Academy
As part of my visit to the FBI Headquarters for the FBI Corporate Compliance Officer Outreach Event, we took a trip to Quantico to visit the FBI Academy. The Academy shares space with the Marine Corps base and is therefore behind heavy security. Even with all of that security, there are buildings at the Academy … Read more »