In May attended the SEC Compliance Outreach program hosted by the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Boston office. That was supposed to be the first in a new series from the SEC. The SEC just announced a few other program dates and locations. I highly recommend attending. From the SEC: The SEC’s Office of Compliance Inspections … Read more »
The Fall of Sam Israel
Sam Israel is a scumbag. He is a liar and a cheat. He admits so in Octopus by Guy Lawson. Israel was the nefarious trader behind the Bayou Funds, one of biggest hedge fund ponzi schemes, at least until Bernie Madoff finally fell to Earth. Lawson met with Israel while Israel was in prison. He … Read more »
Compliance Bricks and Mortar for July 26
These are some of the compliance-related stories that recently caught my attention. Crowd-funding, private-placement ads get special focus in the Bay State by Mark Schoeff Jr. in Investment News Massachusetts’ top securities regulator today launched a special unit to monitor crowdfunding websites and to keep track of private-placement advertising, two new fundraising methods authorized by … Read more »
Update: SEC Charges Real Estate Executives with Investment Fraud But Fails to State a Claim
The Securities and Exchange Commission brought charges against Cay Clubs Resorts and Marinas and several of its executives for defrauding investors. The case originally caught my eye because it involved real estate and would likely play a role in my continuing quest to figure out what’s a security. The first ruling came out and it … Read more »
Should I Ask for Your Help?
The ABA Journal is working on their annual Blawg 100 list. They think it’s a good idea to smash law blog into blawg. Visit the Blawg 100 Amici nomination page and fill in a few boxes. Due date is August 9. The reason for this story is whether to put Compliance Building forward as a … Read more »
Compliance, the Tour de France, and Doping
One of the biggest challenges with any compliance program is proving effectiveness. It’s really hard to prove that you prevented a bad thing from happening. You may be able to detect bad things when they occur. But most policies and procedures cannot prove they capture 100% of the bad things. Cycling is a case in … Read more »
The New Rule 506(d) and Bad Actors
At its latest meeting, the Securities and Exchange Commission approve the rule that lifted the ban on general solicitation and advertising for certain private placements. The SEC also adopted the new rule that disqualifies felons and other bad actors from participating in certain securities offerings. The first rule was mandated by the JOBS Act. The … Read more »
Compliance Bricks and Mortar for July 19
These are some of the compliance-related stories that recently caught my attention. Why is the ACA making a big deal about the SEC proposed ruling? by Dan Rosen Simply put, the proposed SEC ruling is (a) trying to fix a problem that doesn’t exist; (b) will increase risk in our early-stage deals by adding a … Read more »
What to Make of the New Rule 509
While I was waiting to see what surprises the Securities and Exchange Commission had included in the rule lifting the ban on general solicitation and advertising for private placements, the SEC slipped in an unexpected surprise. The SEC is proposing a new Rule 509. Rule 509 would require disclosures on “any written communication that constitutes … Read more »
Buckets of Money
Radio personality Raymond J. Lucia, Sr. got in trouble with the SEC. An administrative law judge made it official and issued an initial decision in the case. Lucia will barred from associating with any investment adviser, broker or dealer, the investment adviser registrations for him and his firm are revoked, and is stuck with a … Read more »