Explicit Anti-Money Laundering/Countering the Financing of Terrorism Rules Put in Place for Investment Advisers 

Investments advisers had been excluded the definition of “financial institution” under the Bank Secrecy Act. At least until today. The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network at Treasury issued a final regulation today that changes that exclusion. Most registered investment advisers are now included in the definition and will have to comply with the strict requirements of … Read more »

The One with the Model Portfolio on the Website

The Marketing Rule, Advisers Act Rule 206(4)-1, Section (e)(1) defines hypothetical performance as “performance results that were not actually achieved by any portfolio of the investment adviser and includes, but is not limited to: It’s okay to use hypothetical performance in your marketing materials, IF (that’s a big if) the adviser adopts and implements policies … Read more »

Compliance, the SEC and the Supreme Court

Supreme Court Limits SEC Internal Tribunals

“When the SEC seeks civil penalties against a defendant for securities fraud, the Seventh Amendment entitles the defendant to a jury trial.” SEC v. Jarkesy The case presented three issues: (1) Whether statutory provisions that empower the Securities and Exchange Commission to initiate and adjudicate administrative enforcement proceedings seeking civil penalties violate the Seventh Amendment. … Read more »

Quishing Attacks

This is a new term to me. Quishing: a business email compromise (BEC) attack that uses QR codes in embedded PDF documents to redirect victims to phishing URLs.  There is a Phishing-as-a-Service (PhaaS) platform called ONNX Store, which apparently has a user-friendly interface to enable the orchestration of phishing attacks. Good to know there are services making it easy to … Read more »

Private Funds Rule is Vacated

We consider a challenge to the Final Rule by petitioners National Association of Private Fund Managers, Alternative Investment Management Association, Ltd., American Investment Council, Loan Syndications and Trading Association, Managed Funds Association, and the National Venture Capital Association collectively “Private Fund Managers”). For the following reasons, we VACATE the Final Rule. The central focus is … Read more »