Doug Cornelius on compliance for private equity real estate
There was a massive cyberattack over the weekend that has afflicted 200,000 computers in more than 150 countries. The malware locks users out of their computers and threatens to destroy data if a ransom is not paid. It turns out that the the malicious software used in the cyberattack was originally been developed by the … Read more »
Jay Clayton was sworn in last week as the new Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission. That makes him the first permanent head of a financial regulator during the Trump administration. Yesterday, Chairman Clayton gave his first public speech by making the opening remarks at the SEC Advisory Committee on Small and Emerging Companies. … Read more »
The firing of FBI Director has set off a firestorm. Obviously, there is a great deal of partisan tilt to the action. I wanted to focus on the lesson we can see from a compliance perspective. It is an example of the need for independence of compliance and investigations. President Trump fired someone who was … Read more »
The Securities and Exchange Commission has been acquiring troves of data about private funds through the Form PF filing requirement. Some, including myself, have been skeptical that the SEC will figure out what to do with the data as a tool to protect investors. But, the SEC has been able to compile statistics and published a … Read more »
I went on Spring vacation to Kentucky with Mrs. Doug and the compliance nuggets. There was a lot of bourbon and horses. For vacation reading, I dug into my ever-growing tower of books to read and brought along Bourbon Empire by Reid Mitenbuler to read. It seemed appropriate. Reid Mitenbuler portrays bourbon as a balance of … Read more »
These are some of the compliance-related stories that recently caught my attention. House Panel Approves Plan to Undo Parts of Dodd-Frank Financial Law by Rachel Witkowski The House Financial Services Committee launched a Republican-supported rollback of Obama-era financial regulations, voting 34-26 along party lines Thursday for a plan to undo significant parts of the 2010 … Read more »
The SEC opinion in KCD Financial Inc. (SEC Opinion 34-80340, March 29, 2017) affirms a fine and disciplinary action against KCD for selling securities in a private placement when no exemption from registration was available under Rule 506. The KCD opinion makes clear that you can’t fix the general solicitation failure by then only selling only … Read more »
On Thursday, The Wall Street Journal published an article on conflicts between the top executives of some private equity firms and their personal investments: “Fund Kings Open Family Offices.” The article focused on two aspects of the executives’ wealth management: (1) distractions from activities outside the funds and (2) conflicting investments with the funds. On … Read more »
These are some of the compliance-related stories that recently caught my attention. District Court Rules Plaintiff Failed To Plead Real Estate Investment Was A “Security” by Keith Paul Bishop in California Corporate & Securities Law In ruling on the defendants’ motion, Judge Benitez correctly observed that the plaintiff’s securities law claims require that there be … Read more »
Some financial fraud is easy to spot. Some is hard to spot. Some I barely understand. Kevin Amell was very clever in hiding his alleged fraud and I’m not sure I understand exactly how he pulled it off. Mr. Amell was a fund manager at Eaton Vance for its Risk-Managed Diversified Equity Income Fund. The … Read more »