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: … Read more »

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 … Read more »
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 … Read more »
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 … Read more »
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 … Read more »
The Clock is Ticking
With a registration deadline of March 30, 2012 and a 45 day period for the SEC to review the application, private fund managers need to file their Form ADV by February 14. I know that there are fund managers still on the fence on whether to register or not. The trouble came from Title IV … Read more »

Blogoversary
Compliance Building went public on February 12, 2009. Since then, I have managed to publish a blog post almost every business day. Sometimes, more than one. I hope at least some of those 1500 posts were useful to you, whether you are a subscriber or one of the other 325,000 or so visitors to Compliance … Read more »
Compliance Bits and Pieces for February 10
These are some compliance-related stories that recently caught my attention: The Fallout from the Latest NLRB Salvo on Social Media by Daniel Schwartz In Connecticut Employment Law Blog [E]very pronouncement from the NLRB is treated as if it is written in stone with lots of suggestions on how to rewrite all of your policies. The latest was … Read more »
Proposed FATCA Regulations Released
The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act of 2009 was part of the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act of 2010 (the HIRE Act) passed in 2010. If you have foreign investors or domestic investors making their investments through offshore entities, you need to pay attention to this law. It requires private funds to collect information … Read more »
New Anti-Money Laundering Requirements for Non-Bank Mortgage Lenders and Originators
Private Equity has been siting on the fringes of Anti-money laundering regulation for many years. It’s still illegal to be involved in money laundering and fund managers should be taking some steps to protect themselves and to identify problems. There’s just no set script. FinCEN is supposedly working on a new rule. In the meantime, … Read more »