Doug Cornelius on compliance for private equity real estate
The Securities and Exchange Commission’s case against Robert Magee and Valor Capital was a straight forward cherry picking case. What caught my eye was the data and statistical analysis that the SEC used to prove its charges. Magee was doing the wrong thing by order block trades in an omnibus trading account and then allocating … Read more »
For those of us working with registered investment advisers, the deadline for filing Form ADV is quickly approaching. I’ve heard a few people struggling to classify their clients. I put together this chart to help me think about it. With the recent changes to Form ADV, I see the SEC carving client accounts … Read more »
Most frauds have some element of fake returns. I picked the case against McKinley Mortgage Co., Charles Preston, and his son, Caleb Preston because the headline in the release included: Private Real Estate Fund with Scheme to Defraud Retail Investors.” Frauds involving private real estate funds catch my attention. McKinley bought promissory notes secured by … Read more »
BMW issued a voluntary recall of all BMW i3 electric cars ever sold in the U.S. and has sent a stop-sale order to its U.S. dealers for any new or used i3 vehicles. There have only been 30,000 sold. That’s not very many, but it’s all of them. The reason is a “compliance issue” with … Read more »
These are some of the compliance-related stories that caught my attention this week. FINRA warns public about fake . . . FINRA by Richard L. Cassin The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) warned about con artists posing as FINRA to make phony investment pitches. Scammers are using FINRA’s name and logo in letters that say … Read more »
The Supreme Court just decided a case that limits the whistleblower anti-retaliation provisions in Dodd-Frank. The Court handed down its decision in Digital Realty Trust v. Somers. Dodd-Frank defines “whistleblower” as a person who provides “information relating to a violation of the securities laws to the Securities and Commission.” 15 U. S. C. §78u–6(a)(6). A … Read more »
I had given up on trying to access the SEC’s online resources through my phone a long time ago. Frankly, it was hard to use with a full computer screen at times. It was nearly impossible to use on my phone’s small screen. But the site has been evolving. Broc Romanek pointed out that the … Read more »
I’m a big fan of the Winter Olympics. I’ve been spending many hours watching coverage of curling, snowboarding, cross-county skiing and the biathalon, so far. A story about compliance at the Olympics caught my attention. Samsung, the big South Korean company, made a limited edition of its Galaxy Note 8 for the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic … Read more »
These are some of the compliance-related stories that recently caught my attention. Asset Managers Show Less Concern About Compliance by Ben DiPietro More than three-quarters of respondents said the reduced regulatory concern meant compliance issues are not as significant as they were in the past; 52% said they are more focused on reputational risk the … Read more »
The Securities and Exchange Commission’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations announced its 2018 examination priorities. This year, the examination priorities are broken down into five categories: Compliance and risks in critical market infrastructure; Matters of importance to retail investors, including seniors and those saving for retirement; FINRA and MSRB; Cybersecurity; and Anti-money laundering programs. The … Read more »