One of the exemptions from registering a securities offering is if the offering is limited to one state. Some crowdfunding advocates latched onto this exemption and have been pushing for single state crowdfunding at the state legislatures. On April 10, 2014, the SEC issued a Compliance and Disclosure Interpretation on intrastate crowdfunding offerings. The interpretation was … Read more »
More Findings on SEC Exams of Private Funds
Andrew Bowden unloaded a truckload of information at the recent CFA Institute in Boston. Andrew Bowden is the Director of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations. His comments were based on audience questions, instead of a prepared speech. You can’t find it on the SEC website, but you can … Read more »
Weekend Reading: Attachments
For those compliance officers who do email surveillance, you should enjoy the premise of Attachments by Rainbow Rowell. Lincoln, the protagonist is responsible for email surveillance. He falls for one employee who is a repeat offender whose emails routinely get flagged for his review. He falls in love, but has no idea what she looks … Read more »
When Fundraising Becomes More Lucrative Than Running the Business
Erick Mathe had a vision of creating a media empire. Well, maybe not an empire, more of a small keep. His plan was to broadcast over Low Power Television Service. Those are locally-oriented television broadcasts in small communities. Mr. Mathe had a line up of streaming music and infomercials. He just needed capital to get … Read more »
Why I think the Accredited Investor Standard Should Not Change
The SEC Investor Advisory Committee is scheduled to vote on a reform plan from a subcommittee at its Oct. 9 meeting. That plan calls for the SEC to rethink the income and net-worth minimums used to define an “accredited investor.” Much of the concern about private placements is about risk. They seem to be universally … Read more »
Weekend Reading: Predator
Predator covers the story of the birth of the Predator drone and its effect on military and covert operations. Richard Whittle manages to weave through the military and aeronautic bureaucracy of the Predator as it is destined to become the most successful military unmanned aircraft. I was surprised to see the level of detail about … Read more »
Compliance Bricks and Mortar for September 26
These are some of the compliance-related stories that recently caught my attention. Fixing a Company’s Ethics and Compliance Culture by Michael Volkov in Corruption, Crime & Compliance A company’s ability to enact meaningful change depends on the innate desire of its leadership to execute real change. It is too easy to say that such change … Read more »
First Enforcement Action for Private Equity Fund Expense Allocation
The Securities and Exchange Commission has been making lots of noise about how its unhappy with how private equity firms are allocating expenses to portfolio companies. And it has finally hit its first target. The SEC charged a a private equity fund manager with breaching its fiduciary duty to a pair of private equity funds … Read more »
The NFL Teaches Us the Difference Between Ethics and Compliance
The National Football League is by far the most popular sport in the US. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell talks about what he calls “protecting the shield.” He originally handed down a two-game suspension to Ray Rice for a punch to the head of Mr. Rice’s fiance that left her lying unconscious on the floor of … Read more »
Compliance Bricks and Mortar for September 19
These are some of the compliance-related stories that recently caught my eye. The NFL’s True Problem: Misplaced Priorities Trumping Ethics & Compliance by Matt Kelly in Compliance Week Contrary to what you might believe lately, the National Football League does have an ethics & compliance program. What’s more, the program actually looks pretty good. Except, … Read more »