With the contenders for President nearly locked up for the conventions, I’m stuck worrying about political contributions. At least one fund manager continues to look for an exemption after a small oversight. The firm hired a new senior investment professional in September 2014. A year earlier, the employee had made a contribution to Bruce Rauner … Read more »
Compliance Bricks and Mortar for May 6
These are some of the compliance-related stories that recently caught my attention. We Are All Victims… Except Richard Bistrong by Roy Snell in The Compliance & Ethics Blog Richard was a successful international salesman who selected a bad principle… bribery. He stuck to that principle like glue for 10 years. Before he got caught he … Read more »
Private Equity Real Estate Top 50 – 2016 Edition of Who is Registered
Private Equity Real Estate has released its ranking of the top 50 real estate private equity fund managers. As I have done in the past, I parsed the list to see which managers are registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission as investment advisers. Rank Firm Headquarters Registration 1 The Blackstone Group New York Registered … Read more »
Custody Failure Pinned On the Gatekeepers
I remember the SFX case because the CCO was charged for compliance failures. Now the auditors of SFX have been been charged for their failures. SFX Financial Advisory Management Enterprises is wholly-owned by Live Nation Entertainment and specializes in providing advisory and financial management services to current and former professional athletes. The SEC charged SFX’s … Read more »
Compliance Bricks and Mortar for April 29
I’m back from vacation and have a big stack of compliance-related stories to read. These are some of them. Why Haven’t Bankers Been Punished? Just Read These Insider SEC Emails by Jesse Eisinger in Pro Publica James Kidney, a longtime SEC lawyer, was assigned to take the completed investigation and bring the case to trial. … Read more »
The Only Game In Town
I’m getting caught up on reading while on April vacation. I just finished The Only Game in Town by Mohamed A. El-Erian. The book is an exploration of central banks in the economy. The brilliant Mr. El-Erian sees a coming crisis. One that can be avoided, but we must take action to avoid it. He … Read more »
A Chairlift to Securities Fraud
The Securities and Exchange Commission brought charges against the owners of Jay Peak resort in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom just as ski and snowboard season is winding down. The Miami-based ownership was allegedly using fraudulent EB-5 offerings to raise money and take a bit off off the top for themselves. Jay Peak is wonderful mountain for … Read more »
Compliance Bricks and Mortar for April 15
These are some of the compliance-related stories that recently caught my attention. Am I a Good Compliance Officer? by Kristy Grant-Hart in SCCEs Compliance & Ethics Blog I thought for a long time about a single criterion which could determine whether a person was good or bad at the job. I finally decided that the … Read more »
Love For Your Mother Can Be Insider Trading
Lawrencia Afriyie took some risky bets in the market. She bought out-of-the-money options, but made $1.5 million in profits. It just so happens that her son, John, worked for for an investment firm that had material non-public information on the target of those options. According to the SEC complaint, John Afriyie worked at an investment … Read more »
Racing, Compliance and Cheating
With the Boston Marathon on Monday, the legend of Rosie Ruiz comes up as one of the most infamous sports cheats. Races have since added controls, but cheaters still look for ways around the controls. For those of you not familiar with the history of the Boston Marathon, Rosie Ruiz was declared the winner of … Read more »