The SEC imposed strict limitations on the ability of investment advisers to make political contributions when their clients include government bodies when it issued Rule 206(4)-5. They don’t want government investment decisions decided campaign contributions. This limitation also applies to private investment funds under the language of the rule and the changes to the Investment … Read more »
Sovereign Wealth Funds, Bribery, Corruption, Hospitality and the FCPA
The FCPA seems to be most closely associated with shady oil operations, mining, defense contractors and infrastructure transactions. The image is a big company coming in and bribing an official for access to the country’s resources. The other side to that investment is that the countries build up big supplies of capital. Many deploy some … Read more »
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Compliance Bits and Pieces for January 14
Here are some recent compliance related stories that caught my attention: “Foreign Official” Limbo … How Low Can It Go? in FCPA Professor Move over 49%, there is a new “foreign official” “limbo low” – 43%. In the recent Alcatel-Lucent enforcement action (see here for a complete analysis) paragraph 21 of the DOJ’s information (here) … Read more »
The Impact of the UK Bribery Act on U.S. Companies
Securities Docket put on another fantastic webcast on topics relevant to compliance professionals. Today’s focused on the upcoming Bribery Act in the United Kingdom. If your company has operations in the United Kingdom, you need to pay attention to this law. The upcoming law applies to individuals and companies and outlaws bribes to public officials … Read more »
Stay on Target
Don’t stray from your investment strategy. Don’t chase yields. Make sure your investment strategy follows your marketing materials. According to SEC charges, Charles Schwab failed to do this with its YieldPlus Fund in 2007. The fund was marketed as a Short Term Bond fund and described the Fund as a cash “alternative” that generated a … Read more »
Snow and Compliance
I’m staring out my front door at a half foot of snow, swaying branches heavily laden with wet snow, and an un-plowed street. The latest weather report for Boston: A Blizzard Warning remains in effect until 8 PM EST this evening. * Locations… the East Coast of Massachusetts from Scituate northward. * Hazard types… snow … Read more »
Repeal of Dodd-Frank?
Most compliance professionals have trepidation about parts of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. I would bet that most of the Representatives and Senators who voted for it (and against it) did not read the whole law and do not understand the changes being made. But should it be repealed in it’s … Read more »
Compliance and Foreclosures in Massachusetts
Why is the foreclosure machinery of our nation’s largest banks grinding to a halt? Failure to follow the legal rules. In other words: Compliance Failure. The latest comes from my home state of Massachusetts. The state’s highest court rulet that two foreclosures were invalid because they were not properly assigned to the foreclosing party. The … Read more »
Compliance Bits and Pieces for January 7
Here are some recent compliance-related stories that I found interesting: Dodd-Frank: Too Many Regulations Too Fast? by Thomas Gorman in SEC Actions The average annual rate of rulemaking per year prior to Dodd-Frank for the SEC was 9.5, the CFTC 5.5, the FDIC 8 and the Federal Reserve 4.5 Post Dodd-Frank the average for the … Read more »