I had an interesting discussion on the possible role of law schools in helping train law students for jobs in the compliance field. Compliance does not require a law degree, but there seems to be a demand for compliance professionals with legal degrees in the mid and higher levels, particularly in highly regulated industries. Part … Read more »
Investment Fraud and Online Dating
Most good financial advisers will tell you that referrals are their best source of business. The same is true for fraudsters. Affinity fraud is just using a network to funnel new “investors” into a fraud. The Boston office of the Securities and Exchange Commission brought charges against an alleged fraudster using an unusual network. The … Read more »
Weekend Reading: The Fever of 1721
We are all familiar with the Founding Fathers and the events that lead to the American Revolution. Stephen Coss points to events in 1721 as the seeds of that revolution two generations later in his new book: The Fever of 1721. The Boston of 1721 was already full of conflicts between American colonists and the British … Read more »
Compliance Bricks and Mortar for June 10
These are some of the compliance related stories that recently caught my attention. U.S. Offers Rare Account of Why It Didn’t Pursue Bribery Charges by Samuel Rubenfeld in WSJ.com’s Risk & Compliance Journal As the Securities and Exchange Commission announced it reached non-prosecution agreements in two unrelated foreign-bribery cases, the U.S. Justice Department took the … Read more »
Charging Fund Investors For In-House Legal Staff
In house lawyers fall into two sections of typical fund documents. On one had, fund documents usually state that the fund pays for legal expenses. Another section states that the general partner is responsible for employee expenses. Can you charge in-house legal staff as a fund expense? It depends. This was mentioned by Marc Wyatt, Deputy … Read more »
Fraud, But Is It Securities Fraud?
Although the Securities and Exchange Commission gets blamed for not bringing enough fraud claims, it’s jurisdiction is limited to securities fraud. When I see a real estate case filed by the SEC I pay attention. The case against Richard W. Davis, Jr. brought the “What is a Security?” questions out. The SEC alleges that Richard … Read more »
Compliance Bricks and Mortar for June 3
These are some of the compliance related stories that recently caught my attention. How the Feds Pulled Off the Biggest Insider-Trading Investigation in U.S. History by Patricia Hurtado & Michael Keller in Bloomberg For more than seven years, the U.S. government has relentlessly prosecuted Wall Street traders who used inside information to rake in hundreds … Read more »
Private Equity Fund Managers and Broker Dealer Registration
The Securities and Exchange Commission has been poking around fees earned by private equity firms and found many to its distaste. One item the SEC has highlighted in the past was fees for acting as a broker dealer. I’ve been waiting to see if the SEC’s distaste would be enough to bring an enforcement action. … Read more »
Delaying Losses To Earn Current Fees
Fee structure is a guiding force for how fund managers operate and a keystone for compliance professionals. A compliance professional needs to focus on ways that a fee structure could cause the fund manager to act to the detriment of fund investors. The Securities and Exchange Commission just charged a fund manager for using distorted … Read more »
TRID: The Reason I Drink
The Wall Street Journal dedicated some front page space to compliance professionals: Inside Enforcers Shake Up Bank Culture. It paints a stark picture of the regulatory pressure on banks. There were many factors that lead to the 2008 Great Recession. Most people agree that a lack of oversight by regulators on the banks under their supervision … Read more »