Doug Cornelius on compliance for private equity real estate
Martin Lomasney created a famous saying on the importance of discretion: “Never write if you can speak; never speak if you can nod; never nod if you can wink.” At the time of Lomasney, it was not email or Twitter, but telegrams that were the principal method of electronic communication. In the case of President Trump … Read more »
The Institutional Limited Partners Association (ILPA) released guidance regarding the use of subscription lines of credit facilities by private equity funds. ILPA outlines the risks and potential impact on limited partners. As with most potential conflicts, ILPA recommends better disclosure and greater clarity for their use. Subscription lines of credit are a great tool for … Read more »
I assume most of you are out of the office on Monday and Tuesday to celebrate the original Brexit in 1776. I’m out riding my bike to get ready for the Pan-Mass Challenge. (There’s still time to make a donation to fight cancer.) Read more »
These are some of the compliance-related stories that recently caught my attention. SEC’s Clayton Vows to Do More Exams with Less Funding in AdvisorHub SEC Chairman Jay Clayton testified to Congress on Tuesday morning that the agency will increase its examinations of investment advisers by 20% in the current fiscal year and nudge the numbers … Read more »
Earlier this month, the Securities and Exchange Commission released 23 new frequently asked questions (“FAQs”) on Form ADV to provide guidance on recent amendments to Form ADV. Those amendments become effective in October. These new FAQs include guidance on (i) the umbrella registration approach that many private fund sponsors use to register multiple affiliates and … Read more »
I want to clarify my Pay-to-Play and Yard Signs post from earlier this week. I think an early draft of the post was sent through the email system that was incorrect. A senior SEC official clearly stated that yard signs are not limited by the Pay-to-Play Rule and that the speaker who made the statement was … Read more »
I was fortunate to be able to attend the Securities and Exchange Commission’s CCO Outreach in Boston yesterday. I’ll post more later, but today I wanted focus on one topic that one panel discussed: the pay to play rule. The CCO Outreach stated that they were not trying to play “gotcha” as part of the … Read more »
While the political lens was focused on the James Comey testimony, the House of Representatives passed the Financial Choice Act. The bill is big change to many of the Dodd-Frank. For private funds, the most interesting section is: TITLE IV—Unleashing Opportunities For Small Businesses, Innovators, And Job Creators By Facilitating Capital Formation. The Financial Choice … Read more »
Politics aside, one of the key items I saw in the Comey testimony yesterday was the effect of perception on interactions between a boss and his employees. Mr. Comey said he did “take as a direction” the president’s words to mean he should drop the investigation. That may or may not have been the intention … Read more »
Eight years ago, Stanford Financial Group collapsed and was labeled a Ponzi scheme. The Securities and Exchange Commission is continuing to seek penalties for those involved. One of those is Bernerd Young, who served as the Chief Compliance Officer at Stanford Group Company, the Texas-based registered investment adviser and broker dealer that promoted the Stanford CDs to US investors. … Read more »