Doug Cornelius on compliance for private equity real estate
President Trump announced that the United States will withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement. The U.S. is the world’s second-largest emitter of carbon, with China in the top spot. China affirmed its commitment to meeting its targets under the Paris Climate Agreement and recently canceled construction of 100 coal-fired power plants, with plans to invest billions in … Read more »
Later today, we will hear President Trump announce from the Rose Garden about whether the US will pull out of the Paris climate accord. Meanwhile, ExxonMobil shareholders have stated that they do care about climate change. As an ExxonMobil shareholder, I see that the firm is the frequent subject of activist shareholder items. There were … Read more »
I came across two competing narratives on the use of subcription credit facilities for private equity funds: (1) Howard Marks of Oaktree Capital published a memo on subscription lines of credit for closed-end funds and (2) Eileen Appelbaum’s Private Equity’s Latest Con. Unlike hedge funds, private equity funds call capital from limited partners over time as investments … Read more »
As we pause this weekend to remember those who have fallen while serving the armed forces, these are some of the compliance-related stories that caught my attention recently. No Movie Could Capture the Crazy Details of Bernie Madoff’s Story by GORDON MEHLER AND LARRY H. KRANTZ in The Atlantic Bernie Madoff is back, nearly a … Read more »
The quest of any insider trader is to get a stock bet in place before a big announcement is made. Robert W. Murray thought he could just make his own announcement and sell out of his trade. The target was Fitbit. This case caught my attention because of the yelling about “fake news” and Fitbit. I … Read more »
I’m a local homer, so fraud cases in Massachusetts catch my attention, especially when they involve private funds. The case of the floundering hedge fund, MC2 Capital, founded by Yasuna Murakami, is the usual example of greed and failure to acknowledge one’s mistakes. Mr. Murakami had big dreams and in the glory days of 2007 thought … Read more »
These are some of the compliance-related stories that recently caught my attention. Cybersecurity: Ransomware Alert from SEC’s OCIE Starting on May 12, 2017, a widespread ransomware attack, known as WannaCry, WCry, or Wanna Decryptor, rapidly affected numerous organizations across over one hundred countries. Initial reports indicate that the hacker or hacking group behind the attack … Read more »
We have become used to the Securities and Exchange Commission extracting disgorgement of ill-gotten gains from those violating the securities laws. However, the enabling laws do not explicitly grant the SEC the right to disgorgement. We seem to accept that power, but how far back can the SEC go to grab cash from defendants? In … Read more »
Compliance Building is a free resource I publish for me, and share with you, to help the compliance profession. Now I need some of your hard-earned money. I should point out that the money is not for me; It’s for charity. Help me fight cancer, by raising money for the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. I’m riding the … Read more »
The SEC and the DOJ broght charges against Walter C. Little and his neighbor Andrew M. Berke for illegal insider trading. This particular case caught my attention because Mr. Little was a law firm partner and he found the information by searching through his law firm’s document management system. According to the complaints, Mr. Little … Read more »