The SEC examined all 10 firms registered Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organization (.pdf 23 pages) and found all 10 had “apparent failures”. The SEC has requested remediation plans from each of the agencies within 30 days and is continuing its investigation. The issues found included “apparent failures in some instances to follow ratings methodologies and…
Tag: Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act
Conflicts of Interest and Securitizations
The Big Short highlighted some of the difficulties of taking an investment position in a real estate downturn. The situation was taken a step further with Goldman Sachs’ help in putting together mortgage backed securities with the primary purpose of helping a client take an investment position that the securities will default. It turned out…
Report on Mutual Fund Advertising
Section 918 of Dodd-Frank Act required a study on mutual fund advertising. The Government Accountability Office delivered that report before the 18 month deadline to the designated Congressional committees. The Report’s objectives were “to examine (1) what is known about the impact of mutual fund advertisements on investors, (2) the extent to which performance information…
Risk Retention and Funding Private Equity Deals
There is no doubt that securitization helped fuel the residential housing bubble that lead to the Great Panic of 2008. Lenders found ready buyers for their loan portfolios, could sell them, then lend the money out again to create new loan portfolios to resell. One of the issues is that the lenders became purely loan…
Weekend Humor: Dodd-Frank Update
Jon Stewart helps celebrate the one year anniversary of Dodd-Frank (for those of you who grew up on Schoolhouse Rocks.) The Daily Show – Dodd-Frank UpdateGet More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook
Happy Birthday Dodd-Frank!
This happened one year ago: Since then, it’s been a whirlwind of regulatory production. It was a huge bill. (My copy goes on for 848 pages.) The Regulations it requires are many times more massive that the bill itself. We will experience the repercussions for years. So we may as well keep count. Dodd-Frank Wall…
SEC Made It Harder to Earn Performance Fees
As a general rule, investment adviser cannot charge performance fees. Section 205(a)(1) of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 generally prohibits an investment adviser from entering into, extending, renewing, or performing any investment advisory contract that provides for compensation to the adviser based on a share of capital gains on, or capital appreciation of, the…
SEC Extends Deadline and Adopts Rules for Advisers and Private Funds
At an open meeting on June 22, the Securities and Exchange Commission adopted new rules under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 aimed at investment advisers, private fund managers, venture capital funds, and family offices. Based on the statements at the meeting, there will be three new rules would: Delay Registration Deadline and a New…
Felons and Fund Managers
Most private funds rely on a Rule 506 exemption under Regulation D to sell their limited partnership interests to investors. A new SEC rule amending Rule 506 should catch the eye of private fund compliance officers. The concept it fairly straight-forward: felons should not be allowed to take advantage of the private offering exemptions. Dodd-Frank…
Will Private Equity be Exempted from Registration?
In earlier versions of Dodd-Frank, when it was being formulated in the House committee, there was an exemption for private equity fund managers from registration under the Investment Advisers Act. It also had an exemption for venture capital fund managers. Only the venture capital exemption managed to survive. Of the many attempts to cut back…