Doug Cornelius on compliance for private equity real estate
These are some of the compliance-related stories that recently caught my attention Misplaced Regulatory Moves, Up Close by Matt Kelly in Radical Compliance Like manna from heaven, every time you write about some grand plan from government, fate sends an example of how harebrained bureaucracy can be in practice. And so today we have an … Read more »
President Trump has set de-regulation as one of his priorities. We saw this in his Executive Order that required the repeal of two regulations before enacting a new regulation. The Department of Justice is embracing this mandate. Associate Attorney General Rachel Brand issued a memorandum limiting the use of agency guidance documents in affirmative civil enforcement … Read more »
When Bitcoin was rapidly increasing in value, there were lots of people looking to invest in that space. The SEC has repeatedly raised concerns about fund sponsors creating a fund or ETF focused on cryptocurrency. In a letter to the Investment Company Institute and Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, the SEC said don’t even think … Read more »
Cryptocurrency is a lawless land. Ten days ago, the Securities Exchange Commission and the Commodities and Futures Trading Commission issued a joint statement on virtual currency: “When market participants engage in fraud under the guise of offering digital instruments – whether characterized as virtual currencies, coins, tokens, or the like – the SEC and the … Read more »
I have read most of the books of Michael Lewis. When The Undoing Project came out last year, I grabbed a copy to read right away. Mr. Lewis picks the story of Israeli psychologists Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky who created the field of behavioral economics. Their work came to the attention of Mr. Lewis after … Read more »
These are some of the compliance-related stories that recently caught my attention. Say on Pay: Is It Needed? Does it Work? by Stephen F. O’Byrne In this article, we’ll show that there is substantial evidence that directors do a poor job overseeing executive pay and that directors have weak incentives to pursue shareholder interests in … Read more »
Private Fund CCOs have been focused on the disclosure and reporting of fund expenses for years. The Securities and Exchange Commission made it a centerpiece of exams of private fund managers. A handful of cases came out in 2015-2016 on that first wave of private equity fund manager exams: Blackstone failed to fully inform investors … Read more »
With Congress showing more of its ineptitude, it was unable to pass spending legislation over the weekend. There are reports of limited impact over the weekend. With today’s start of the work week, thousands of federal employees will be home instead of doing their jobs. The Securities and Exchange Commission is still operational. At least … Read more »
These are some of the compliance-related stories that recently caught my attention. Financial Institutions Are Playing Catch-Up in AML and Sanctions Compliance by Michael Volkov A recent survey of financial institutions conducted by Alix Partners on AML and Sanctions compliance (here) contains informative results that support some of my general concerns about ethics and compliance … Read more »
The use of administrative law judges by the Securities and Exchange Commission has been strained since the jurisdiction was expanded under Dodd-Frank. There have been a series of cases challenging the ALJs under the the Appointments Clause of the Constitution. The problem was that the judges were appointed by an internal panel instead of by the … Read more »