I never thought the Bruins would win a championship under the current ownership. For the Celtics, Red Sox, and Patriots, it took a change of ownership for them to become championship caliber. The “Tone at the Top” was to win the championship. Nothing else was acceptable. The owners of the Bruins had been accused of [...]

Bruins and Compliance

Three Compliance Officers Walk Into a Bar…..
The professional recruiters of Howard-Sloan must have been up really late one night to come up with the idea of trying to find America’s Funniest Compliance Professional. Mitchell Berger, Howard-Sloan’s chief executive, said that for several years in the 1980s to ’90s, the firm put on a similar contest for accountants. I suppose if you [...]

Fund Adviser Not Liable for False Statements in Fund Prospectus
A recent ruling in favor of the Janus mutual funds’ adviser in the Supreme Court is continued fall out from the mutual fund market timing scandal from almost a decade ago. The prospectuses for several Janus funds represented that the funds were not suitable for market timing and could be read that Janus Capital Management [...]

Corruption and Twitter
“If someone is being hit for a bribe, isn’t the easiest thing just to put it on Twitter? It goes round the world in next to no time.” Richard Alderman, head of the U.K.’s Serious Fraud Office, is apparently serious about Twitter. After self-congratulating themselves for organizing the government overthrows in North Africa and the [...]

Compliance Bits and Pieces for June 10
Here are some recent compliance-related stories that caught my eye. Investment Advice from George Carlin by Kent Thune in The Big Picture Try not to live in a hypothetical world. “What if there were no hypothetical questions?” ~ George Carlin Regulatory Delay Stokes Unease Over Dodd-Frank by Deborah Solomon and Victoria McGrane in the Wall [...]
Finally, Some SEC Action on the July 21 Deadline for Fund Managers
If you’re a private fund manager you have been worried about the looming July 21 deadline for registration. Given the 45 day review period, the filing deadline was June 6. That came and went without the SEC having the rules in place for registration. Sure, the SEC commissioners and staff have been saying the plan [...]

Crowdsourcing the Purchase of a Beer Company
Some beer lovers who were fans of Pabst Blue Ribbon heard that its parent company, the Pabst Brewing Co., was up for sale. The previous owner had died, leaving it to a charitable trust. Charities couldn’t hold on to the asset so they had to sell it. The beer lovers were a few hundred million [...]

Does it Matter Where the Signature Is?
Just about every compliance certification has the employee sign at the bottom. We have been signing letters and contracts at the end for millenia. But maybe there is a way to increase ethical performance by moving that signature to the top. Lisa L. Shu, Nina Mazar, Francesca Gino, Dan Ariely, and Max H. Bazerman recently [...]

Compliance Lessons from Weinergate
In a tearful statement to the media, Rep. Anthony Weiner admitted he posted a lewd picture of his anatomy to Twitter. Not only that, he says he’s engaged in “inappropriate” online communications with at least six other women. It was just a few days ago that I revisited the Fabulous Fab Rule: Don’t write emails [...]
Lessons from Wunderlich
I don’t take pleasure from others’ failings, but I do try to learn lessons. The recent settlement between Wunderlich Securities and the Securities and Exchange Commission is full of lessons to be learned. overcharged advisory clients for commissions and other transactional fees in violation of Section 206(2) of the Advisers Act failed to satisfy the [...]
Recent Stories
- Compliance Bricks and Mortar for May 17
- Placement Agents and the SEC Inquiry of Private Fund Broker Dealer Requirements
- AIFMD in the UK
- Compliance Bricks and Mortar for May 10
- FINRA Issues Regulatory Notice on Communications Regarding Real Estate Investments
- Private Equity Real Estate 50: Which are Registered with the SEC?
- Compliance Bricks and Mortar for May 3
- Day Two at PEI’s Private Fund Compliance Forum
- Ensuring compliance in your marketing and solicitation procedures
- How technology can improve your compliance process


