Bryan Burrough, William D. Cohan and Bethany McLean have a piece in this month’s Vanity Fair on Jon Corzine, the man behind the spectacular crash of MF Global. It doesn’t provide much insight into what happened at MF Global or where the missing money went. But is does paint an interesting picture of the captain … Read more »
Is a Mitt Romney Candidacy Good for Private Equity?
Mitt Romney puts his business background at the front of his campaign message. As the current front-runner for the Republican nomination, his background is going under increased scrutiny. Since his business background is in private equity, the industry should stop and wonder whether all of this publicity will be good or bad for private equity. … Read more »
US Private Equity Fund Compliance Companion
If you are looking for a good guide to help your private equity compliance program, PEI Media’s US Private Equity Fund Compliance Guide is a good place to start. There have been a few changes since its publication in 2010. PEI Media has just published the US Private Equity Fund Compliance Companion to provide an … Read more »
Compliance Bits and Pieces for January 6
These are some compliance-related stories that recently caught my attention: Obeying the Law is Hard by Chris MacDonald in the Business Ethics Blog For businesses, following the law doesn’t exhaust ethical responsibilities, but it’s an awfully good start. Most of us probably think that following the law is absolute minimally-decent behaviour for business. You absolutely … Read more »
Charges Brought in Social Media Scam
The Securities and Exchange Commission charged an Illinois-based investment adviser with offering to sell fictitious securities on LinkedIn. The SEC also issued two alerts to highlight the risks investors and advisory firms face when using social media. The SEC’s Division of Enforcement alleges that Anthony Fields of Lyons, Illinois offered more than $500 billion in … Read more »
When Red Flags Are Not Enough
Purchase out of the money call options set to expire in two weeks, do not have any activity on that stock before, exclusively use options when you have rarely traded options in the account before, purchase those options just before the announcement of the company’s acquisition, and then quickly try to move the money off-shore. … Read more »
The Great Depression versus the Great Recession
One of the signposts at the beginning of 2012 is that the U.S. economy seems to be recovering. The troubles in the Euro-zone are still creating great uncertainty and people are still cautious. But manufacturing outputs are continuing to increase. I see “help wanted” signs starting to appear in business doors. (Feel free to disagree … Read more »
Happy New Year
New Year’s Eve is a time to reflect on the past and look forward to the future. You may also add an excessive amount of alcohol, an expensive dinner in a crowded restaurant, or a long wait for Chinese food delivery. I’m sure there is a compliance story in there somewhere, but I’m just going … Read more »
Handy Decision Trees to Help with your Bribes
Thinking about making a payment or giving “anything of value” as part of a business meeting and wondering if you could be prosecuted for it under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act or the Travel Act? Just reach into your briefcase and pull out a handy-dandy decision tree to help you through this difficult process. T. … Read more »
Comment Period Extended for Volcker Rule
The Securities and Exchange Commission and federal banking regulators have extended the comment period on the Volcker Rule proposed regulations from January 13, 2012 to February 13, 2012. In Release No. 34-66057, the regulators noted that the extension of the comment period is appropriate “due to the complexity of the issues involved and to facilitate … Read more »