Identity theft is a serious problem. Title X of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act increased the scope of firms that would be subject to federal regulatory requirements on identity theft rules. The Securities Exchange Commission and the Commodities Futures Trading Commission just published a proposed rule addressing that new scope. Section [...]
Archive | February, 2012
Technical Problems
Sometimes things just go wrong. No matter how hard you try (or don’t) you need to expect the unexpected. Software and systems inevitable break and go down. And when a system goes down, it will inevitably go down at the least convenient time. The key is testing, redundancy, and back-up. You can’t prepare for all [...]
Compliance Bits and Pieces for February 24
These are some compliance-related stories that recently caught my attention: The SEC’s Whistleblower’s Office did not email you It’s spam, linked to a virus. [Insert joke here...] Are Auditors Reporting Fraud And Illegal Acts? The SEC Knows But Isn’t Telling by Francine McKenna in re: The Auditors Section 10A of the Securities and Exchange Act [...]
SEC Sweep Letter for Private Equity Funds
The San Francisco Office of the SEC has an informal inquiry into the valuations of private equity funds. IA Watch has received a copy of the sweep letter from the Division of Enforcement directed to a private equity fund manager. Some highlights in the request: All formation and offering documents for the fund, including private [...]
Middle Names and Form ADV
When filling out Form ADV, Schedule A and Schedule B require you to disclose control persons, owners, and significant indirect owners of the investment adviser. The instructions call for the full legal name: Last name, first name, and middle name. And the SEC means it. They require full legal names (last, first, and middle name). [...]
Dodd-Frankenstein
You would expect that a publication with a libertarian tilt like The Economist would not look favorably at the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. They call it Too big not to fail. Being The Economist, the article argues with the facts on its side. Dodd-Frank: 848 pages Federal Reserve Act of 1913: [...]
Compliance Bits and Pieces for February 17
These are some compliance-related stories that recently caught my attention: Lessons Learned on Compliance and Ethics by Tom Fox In [Lessons Learned on Compliance and Ethics: The Best from the FCPA Compliance and Ethics Blog ] I have collected some of my posts which I think will help guide you in your own journey through [...]
Tighter Rules on Advisory Performance Fee Charges
Under the Investment Advisers Act, an adviser can only charge a performance fee if the client was a “qualified client”. The SEC equates net worth with sophistication, so a “qualified client” had to have a level assets to prove their financial sophistication. Those levels are now officially increased. The original standard was that the client [...]
Occupy the SEC
In jest, I wrote that we should occupy the SEC, but noted that they are very open to comments and influence by the public. One of the comments to that story was from a group organized as Occupy the SEC and they were planning to comment on the Volker Rule. They submitted a massive comment [...]
What the SEC Wants Next Year
It is time once again for the Securities and Exchange Commission to sing for its supper. Even though it’s an independent agency, supposedly insulating it from political pressure, it still needs to go back to Congress each year to get funding. The budget request for FY 2013 totals $1.566 billion, an increase of $245 million [...]
