Emory University accounting professor Shivaram Rajgopal points an accusatory finger at Securities and Exchange Commission employees and proclaims a pattern of selling stocks of companies subject to enforcement actions. His study finds “significant abnormal returns of (i) about 4% per year for all securities in general; and (ii) about 8.5% in U.S. common stocks in … Read more »
SEC Charges Private Equity Fund Manager with Misallocation of Expenses
In the presence exam initiative, the Securities and Exchange Commission identified conflicts of interest as a high risk area. Included in that high risk area is the allocation of fees and expenses. The SEC just brought charges against a private equity fund manager for the improper allocation of fees and expenses. The SEC charged Scott … Read more »
The Darth Vader Defense to Insider Trading
Frank Hixon Jr. is trying to evade insider trading charges by denying he knew his father. His father is not a malevolent cyborg. His name is even easier to decipher than Darth Vader; It’s Frank Hixon Sr. Hixon is challenging the charges so I have only the government’s version of the facts. Perhaps he has … Read more »
California’s Public Disclosure of Private Fund Investments
One of the challenges with having a government pension plan investor is the potential disclosure obligations under the states’ sunshine laws. A similar problem exists with Securities and Exchange Commission. The SEC is subject to the Freedom of Information Act and exam information is potentially subject to some level of disclosure. But the state level … Read more »
Compliance Bricks and Mortar for February 21
These are some of the compliance-related stories that recently caught my attention. SEC claims drunk lawyer had insider tipple By Kara Scannell in FT.com The SEC sued Tibor Klein, a New York investment adviser, in September for allegedly buying securities of King Pharmaceuticals after learning from one of his clients that the drug company was … Read more »
Never Been Examined by the SEC? Look in the Lobby
With the flood of new registered investment advisers after the enactment of Dodd-Frank, the Securities and Exchange Commission launched the presence exam program. The goal was to get to a big chunk of the newly registered fund managers. What got left out was the big chunk of investment advisers who had never been examined. That … Read more »
SEC Document Request Letters
As a fund manager one of the best ways to be prepared for a visit from the Securities and Exchange Commission is to practice. You should grab a recent document request from a SEC examination. Then give yourself one week to pull all the requested information together in a coherent package. I put together a … Read more »
More Guidance on Knowledgeable Employee Exemption for Private Funds
A new no-action letter from the SEC’s Division of Investment Management should allow more employees of a fund manager to invest in their firm’s private funds under the Investment Company Act. Even better for the compliance department, compliance staff could fit the expanded definition of a “knowledgeable employee.” When operating under the Section 3(c)(7) exemption … Read more »
Weekend Reading: The Undercover Economist Strikes Back
Financial Times columnist and bestselling author Tim Harford tries to show us that macroeconomics is not that hard in The Undercover Economist Strikes Back. In order to fix the economy, we need to understand the economy. The book is a “practically minded poke-around under the hood of our economic system.” It’s a sequel to The Undercover Economist, … Read more »
Compliance Bricks and Mortar for February 14
These are some of the compliance-related stories that recently caught my attention. New SEC investor advocate says he has investor-protection genes by Mark Schoeff Jr. in Investment News Mr. Fleming will head an office that is responsible for ensuring that the concerns of retail investors are elevated at the commission, as well as at self-regulatory … Read more »