A cynical look from Dilbert at corporate culture creation: Some of the comments to the comic reinforce this cynical view of corporate values (and ethics): kmulchandani: Just Brilliant! i had a boss who always preached in a code of ethics and values, but when it came to him he was always excused. Quoting him it … Read more »
Holiday Compliance – Don’t Impale Rudolph
It’s the holiday season. Like the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade, your community may run a similar parade. They need to pay attention to compliance issues. Particularly, they need to compare the height of the parade’s balloons to overhead power lines and traffic signals. For your entertainment, a parade that failed. Read more »
Do You Want to be Systemically Important?
The hard work has begun as federal regulators are trying to implement the provisions of Dodd-Frank. The law pushed lots of the detail out to the agencies so there are lots of unanswered questions. One of the hot button issues was what to do with financial institutions that were too big to fail. Dodd-Frank came … Read more »
It Has a Name: Operation Broken Trust
Apparently, many of the recent financial fraud actions in the news have been part of a nationwide operation organized by the Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force to target investment fraud: Operation Broken Trust. “To date, the operation has involved enforcement actions against 343 criminal defendants and 189 civil defendants for fraud schemes that harmed more … Read more »
Nominations Open for the 2010 Clawbies
Nominations are open for the 2010 Clawbies, , honoring the best in Canadian legal blogs. My old blog, KM Space, was a past two-time winner of a Clawbie: Friend of the North 2007 and Friend of the North 2008. Compliance Building stayed on the Clawbie list for 2009. It looks like I didn’t pay much … Read more »
Which Real Estate Fund Managers are Registered with the SEC?
After looking at whether a fund manager is an investment adviser and whether real estate is a security, I looked at the Private Equity Real Estate News list of the 30 biggest private equity real estate firms in the world (.pdf). (Disclosure: my company is on the list.) How many of them are already registered … Read more »
Compliance Bits and Pieces for December 3
Here are some recent compliance-related stories that caught my attention: Transparency International Alleges Intimidation in Pakistan by Joe Palazzolo in WSJ.com’s Corruption Currents Transparency International says its branch in Pakistan has received death threats from government officials, in connection with the anti-corruption organization’s agreement with the U.S. to monitor aid flows to the country. Syed … Read more »
Job Description For CCOs of Advisers to Private Investment Funds
Back in 2005, Associate Director Office of Compliance Inspection and Examinations of the SEC, Gene Gohlke gave a speech addressing hedge funds who would soon have to register under the doomed hedge fund rule. He focused on what the funds needed in a Chief Compliance Officer. Rule 206(4)-7 requires a registered investment adviser to designate … Read more »
Calculating Regulatory Assets Under Management for Private Funds
For private fund managers, one troubling aspect of Form ADV had been the calculation of “assets under management” in item 5.F. If securities are less than 50% of the portfolio then the portfolio would not be a securities account. Except for real estate debt funds, most real estate funds would end up with $0. (I’m … Read more »
Yes, the SEC Wants Real Estate Fund Managers to Register
Earlier I had pointed out how a real estate fund manager could be considered an investment adviser and have to register with the SEC under the Investment Advisers Act. In the Proposed Changes to Form ADV published on November 19, the SEC has made it clear that real estate funds are part of the mix. … Read more »