Even smart people do dumb things. Lawyers presumably know the law, but still break it. That means they occasionally take some short term profits through insider trading and get caught red-handed. Everyone is focused on the Galleon Group insider trading trial happening in Manhattan, threatening to put Raj Rajaratnam in jail. That case is complicated … Read more »
Compliance Bits and Pieces for March 18
Here are some compliance-related stories that recently caught my eye: April 5 Webcast: The SEC’s Asset Management Unit and Strategies for Avoiding Trouble in 2011 and Beyond in Securities Docket In this webcast, Bruce Karpati, the co-head of the SEC’s Asset Management unit since its inception, will discuss his unit’s successes over the past year, … Read more »
Should You Invest in the World’s Most Ethical Companies 2011 Edition
The Ethisphere Institute announced its fifth annual selection of the World’s Most Ethical Companies, highlighting 110 organizations that lead the way in promoting ethical business standards. Of the 110 companies honored this year, 74were on the 2010 list. (If you need help with the math, 36 are new to the list in 2011 and 26 … Read more »
The Small Business Capital Access and Job Preservation Act
With the House of Representatives’ change in political control, the Republicans are taking some steps to cut back on Dodd-Frank. Earlier this week the House Committee on Financial Services distributed a press release about five potential bills that would revise the financial service legislation: The Asset-Backed Market Stabilization Act The Small Company Capital Formation Act … Read more »
More on the Proposed Limitations on Compensation for Fund Managers
There is a new joint federal rule in the works for all financial institutions. This will lump together banks, credit unions, broker-dealers and investment advisers. If you have more than $1 billion in assets under management, you need to pay attention to this rule. Section 956 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection … Read more »
SEC’s Pay-to-Play Rule Is Effective Today
If you have (or want to have) government investors in your private fund then you need to be in compliance with Rule 206(4)-5 starting today. Summary (from the SEC): The Securities and Exchange Commission is adopting a new rule under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 that prohibits an investment adviser from providing advisory services … Read more »
Compliance Bits and Pieces for March 11
These are some compliance-related stories that recently caught my eye. Inside The Mind of An Inside Trader by Francine McKenna in re: The Auditors No Big 4 audit firms or their partners have been named in the insider trading scandal surrounding the now-defunct hedge fund Galleon Management. But the SEC has accused one of the … Read more »
Massachusetts Brings Charges Against a Hedge Fund
You need to worry about more than just the Securities and Exchange Commission when it comes to private fund fraud. State securities regulators generally have the ability to bring fraud charges. Case in point is the Massachusetts’ Secretary of the Commonwealth bringing charges against Risk Reward Capital Management, RRC Management, the RRC Bio Fund and … Read more »
Lords of Finance
The financial crisis of 2008 was not the first. In reading Lords of Finance you see some of the obvious parallels from the 1920s. Liaquat Ahamed focuses his story on Montagu Norman of the Bank of England, Benjamin Strong of the New York Federal Reserve, Hjalmar Schact of the Reichsbank and Emile Moreau of the … Read more »
The SEC Continues to Investigate Side Pockets and Valuations
The SEC brought another case against a private investment fund for misuse of side pockets. Lawrence R. Goldfarb of Baystar Capital Management agreed to pay a hefty fine to settle claims brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission for misuse of his investment fund’s assets. When used properly, a side pocket is a mechanism that … Read more »