Last week the Subcommittee on Securities, Insurance, and Investment of the United States Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs held a hearing on regulating private investment funds. [You can see an archive of the hearing.] The video shows lots of empty Senator chairs at the hearing. Majority Statement from Senator Jack Reed Minority … Read more »
Year: 2009
The HITECH Act
I sat in a webinar on CyberSecurity Law: The Best Offense is a Good Defense sponsored by Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP. One aspect of the presentation was the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act. This created the first federal data breach notification law. It also substantially revised HIPAA regulations regarding privacy … Read more »
SEC Proposes Measures to Curtail “Pay to Play” Practices
At yesterday’s Open Meeting, the SEC voted unanimously to propose measures intended to curtail “pay to play” practices by investment advisers that seek to manage money for state and local governments. In 1999, the SEC considered a proposal to curb adviser pay to play practices modeled on MSRB Rule G37 that applies to underwriters of … Read more »
SEC to Consider Pay to Play Rule for Investment Advisers
At the SEC open meeting on Wednesday July 22, the Commission will consider whether to propose a rule to address “pay to play” practices by investment advisers. The proposal is designed, among other things, to prohibit advisers from seeking to influence the award of advisory contracts by public entities through political contributions to or for … Read more »
Complying with Massachusetts Data Protection Regulations
The current deadline for complying with the Massachusetts Data Privacy Law is January 1, 2010. Since the law protects personal data of the citizens of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, its reach extends well beyond the state borders. TechTarget recently held a seminar on 201 CMR 17. It is tough law to deal with. Even its … Read more »
The Rise in Financial Crime in America
The Economist is reporting that there were over 730,000 counts of suspected financial wrongoing recorded in America last year. Financial institutions filed nearly 13% more reports of fraud compared with 2007. The number of mortgage frauds rose by 23% to almost 65,000. This poses the classic compliance conundrum: Is there more fraud occurring, or is … Read more »
Preparing for the strictest privacy law in the nation: MA Privacy Law 201 CMR 17
Join me for a webinar on the Massachusetts Data Privacy Law. Knowledge Management Associates, LLC is sponsoring a webinar on Preparing for the Strictest Privacy Law in the Nation: MA Privacy Law 201 CMR 17. I will provide an overview of the law. Roberty Boonstra will share some of his best practices around implementation and compliance … Read more »
Ask for Usernames, Don’t Ask for Passwords
From a compliance perspective it is good to monitor what your employees are doing in the various social media sites. If you operate in a heavily regulated industry it may not only be a good idea, but be necessary. Don’t cross the line and ask for the passwords to those accounts. Learn from the City … Read more »
The State of Legal Social Networking
I have been a long time fan of social networking for lawyers. Capturing the conversation among colleagues is one of the best ways of capturing knowledge and finding expertise. Connecting with peers is the best way to stay up-to-date on the law. That was one of the primary reasons that bar associations formed. Can these … Read more »
SEC Case Against Mark Cuban is Dismissed
The SEC alleged that Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban was involved in insider trading when he sold shares in an Internet search engine company, Mamma.com Inc., after receiving confidential information about a private offering in 2004. The SEC said Cuban avoided a loss of $750,000 by selling his 600,000 shares, which represented a 6.3 percent … Read more »