In 2005, the US Supreme Court was faced with a challenge on the “public use” provision of the Constitution’s eminent domain protection. We know the government can’t take private property without just compensation. The challenge was on the boundaries of the government’s intended use of that property. Kelo v. City of New London gave the government … Read more »
Compliance Bricks and Mortar for May 27
These are some of the compliance-related stories that recently caught my attention. Up Close and Personal: Individual CCO Liability – Part I by Tom Fox in FCPA Compliance & Ethics For when should a CCO have liability and should the regulators, whether in the financial services industry or in the broader anti-corruption world of the … Read more »
New Anti-Money Laundering Rules
The U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network’s new customer due diligence rule requires covered financial institutions to collect information on the significant beneficial owners of customers that are legal entities. For a private fund manager, the rule is not explicitly applicable. The term ‘‘covered financial institution’’ refers to: (i) Banks; (ii) brokers or dealers in … Read more »
Increasing the Threshold for Qualified Clients and Performance Fees
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission proposed to increase the net worth threshold for “Qualified Clients” from $2 million to $2.1 million. Rule 205-3 currently requires “qualified clients” to have at least $1 million of assets under management with the adviser or a net worth of at least $2 million. Under the Investment Advisers Act, an … Read more »
A Bad Bet On Insider Trading
The recent insider trading case against William “Billy” Walters of Las Vegas is fascinating for all of the players involved, including him. Plenty has been written about the charges because it implicates pro golfer Phil Mickelson and former Dean Foods board member Thomas C. Davis. All three are implicated in insider trading. How did they get … Read more »
We The People
In We The People, Juan Williams tackles the history of the 20th century through the lens of some keys figures and tries to pin those societal changes back to the original thoughts of the founding fathers. At first glance, it looks like Mr. Williams might use the ‘great man theory‘ of history. The people he picks are … Read more »
Compliance Bricks and Mortar for May 20
These are some of the compliance-related stories that recently caught my attention. Compliance Goes to School by Geoffrey Parsons Miller In my view there is no one “right” answer to the question of where compliance fits in a law school’s curriculum, just as there is no “one-size-fits-all” compliance program. A good model, however, is that … Read more »
Cybersecurity: a growing risk imperative #CFOandCOO
I’m attending the PERE CFOs & CCOs Forum. These are my notes from the session. On a scale of 1 to 5 the attendees created a classic bell curve on how confident we felt about our cybersecurity programs, with most choosing “3.” The panel labeled social engineering as the upcoming threat. There were several stories … Read more »
An Update from the SEC #CFOandCOO
I’m attending the PERE CFOs & CCOs Forum. These are my notes from the session. Bruce Karpati interviewed Igor Rozenblit, Co-head of the Private Fund Unit at OCIE, Securities and Exchange Commission. Of course, Igor’s views are his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the SEC or the Commissioners. Prior, when Bruce … Read more »
Doing Business in Europe Today #CFOandCCO
I’m attending the PERE CFOs & CCOs Forum. These are my notes from the session. Most of the attendees are using private placement to get into Europe, with the rest split between a parallel Europe fund and reverse solicitation. AIFMD arrangements are possible with a third-party who has the AIFMD passport. The non-EU firm acts … Read more »