On April 12, 2024, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission imposed fines and other sanctions on five registered investment advisers (RIAs) for violations of the Investment Adviser Marketing Rule (Rule 206(4)-1), which has...more
On April 3, 2024, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced its first enforcement action against a registered investment adviser (RIA) with no ties to a broker-dealer regarding so-called “off-channel”...more
4/10/2024
/ Broker-Dealer ,
Electronic Communications ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Fund Managers ,
Investigations ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Management ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Registered Investment Advisors ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Securities Violations
Starting on January 1, 2024, entities that are organized in the United States or are registered to do business in the United States will generally be required to disclose to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (an...more
12/11/2023
/ Beneficial Owner ,
CFTC ,
Commodity Trading Advisors (CTAs) ,
Corporate Transparency Act ,
FinCEN ,
Foreign Entities ,
Fund Managers ,
Investment Management ,
Private Funds ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Venture Capital
As a general principle, the Marketing Rule requires registered investment advisers to include net performance alongside any presentation of gross performance. Market practice on whether or how this principle applies to case...more
The Securities and Exchange Commission adopted rules on December 14, 2022 that will require...more
Key Points -
Until August 12, 2025, CPOs and CTAs may continue to file position limit disaggregation notices upon request, rather than prospectively, and exempt CTAs may continue to rely upon the “independent account...more
Key Points -
All U.S.-resident end-investors (including funds and fund managers) and custodians must file a Form SHC if they either (i) hold more than $200 million of reportable foreign securities (such as securities...more
Key Point -
As of September 30, 2021, private fund managers registered with the CFTC as CPOs or CTAs will be required, under new NFA guidance, to supervise certain third-parties performing regulatory functions....more
The Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC, or Commission) Division of Examinations (Division) recently issued a Risk Alert highlighting staff observations from examinations of investment advisers, registered investment...more
In a recent precedential decision, the 2nd Circuit held that funds could delegate beneficial ownership to their investment managers, thereby eliminating the funds’ disgorgement liability under Section 16(b) of the Securities...more
12/4/2020
/ Amicus Briefs ,
Appellate Courts ,
Beneficial Owner ,
Disgorgement ,
General Partnerships ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Management ,
Limited Partnerships ,
Section 16 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act
Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Regulation 3.10(c)(3) currently provides an exemption from registration for non-U.S. commodity pool operators (CPOs) and commodity trading advisors (CTAs), if they solely operate...more
U.S. persons who provided or received any financial services, such as investment advisory services, fund management or brokerage services, to or from non-U.S. persons during 2019 (“Reporters”) must file a Form BE-180 report...more
- The OCIE of the SEC highlights that responses to COVID-19 present important regulatory and compliance issues for SEC registrants, including “heightened risks of misconduct” tied to recent market volatility.
- The Risk...more
8/21/2020
/ Asset Management ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Business Continuity Plans ,
Business Operations ,
Compliance ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Protection ,
Fees ,
Financial Transactions ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Fraud ,
Investment Management ,
Investors ,
OCIE ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Popular ,
Remote Working ,
Risk Alert ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Supervision
- In the age of broad corporate teleworking brought on by COVID-19, OCIE of the SEC has observed during recent examinations that investment advisers, broker-dealers and investment companies are subject to an increased threat...more
7/16/2020
/ Broker-Dealer ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Homeland Security Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) ,
Incident Response Plans ,
Investment Management ,
Malware ,
OCIE ,
Popular ,
Ransomware ,
Risk Alert ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
- The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) formally withdrew its highly controversial “Regulation Automated Trading” (Reg AT).
- In its place, the CFTC proposed principles-based rules applicable to designated...more
On July 10, 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed to increase the filing threshold for Form 13F to $3.5 billion (35 times larger than the current $100 million threshold), revise the requirements for...more
- On June 23, 2020, the SEC and OCIE issued its latest Risk Alert describing common deficiencies it has observed in recent examinations of registered investment advisers that manage private equity funds or hedge funds.
-...more
7/6/2020
/ Conflicts of Interest ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Fees ,
Hedge Funds ,
Investment Management ,
Non-Public Information ,
OCIE ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Private Equity Funds ,
Registered Investment Advisors ,
Risk Alert ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
- A CPO will be prohibited from claiming an exemption from registration under CFTC Regulation 4.13 if it or any of its principals has in their backgrounds a statutory disqualification under the Commodity Exchange Act.
- A...more
6/12/2020
/ Bad Actors ,
Certification Requirements ,
CFTC ,
Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) ,
Commodity Pool ,
CPOs ,
Exemptions ,
Final Rules ,
Investment Management ,
National Futures Association ,
Registration Requirement ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
- The 2nd Circuit has affirmed two lower court decisions dismissing complaints alleging violations of Section 16(b) of the Securities Exchange Act. In so holding, the 2nd Circuit ruled that an investment advisor’s client does...more
- The BEA requires all U.S. persons that own or control more than 10 percent of the voting securities of a “foreign” business enterprise to file a report on its BE-10 Benchmark Survey of U.S. Direct Investment Abroad for the...more
In this episode, Akin Gump investment management partners Barbara Niederkofler and Jason Daniel discuss the Security and Exchange Commission’s proposed modernization of the advertising and cash solicitation rules under the...more
1/10/2020
/ Advertising ,
Books & Records ,
Cash Solicitation Rule ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Advisers Act of 1940 ,
Investment Funds ,
Investment Management ,
Investors ,
Pooled Investment Vehicles ,
Proposed Amendments ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Securities Transactions
On January 1, 2020, the California Consumer Protection Act (CCPA) will become effective for all businesses that, among other things, have at least $25 million in annual revenue and collect or use any personal information of...more
12/31/2019
/ California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) ,
Consumer Privacy Rights ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Collection ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Fund Managers ,
Investment ,
Investment Firms ,
Investment Management ,
Personal Data ,
Personal Information ,
Privacy Policy
On December 19, 2019, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (FINRA) adopted amendments to Rules 5130 and 5131 (the “New Issues Rules”) to permit allocations of initial public offering (IPO) profits to certain...more
12/31/2019
/ Allocation of Funds ,
Amended Rules ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Covered Person ,
Employee Benefits ,
Exemptions ,
Family Offices ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Foreign Corporations ,
Foreign Investment ,
Foreign Offerings ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Companies ,
Investment Funds ,
Investment Management ,
Investors ,
Pension Funds
• Effective January 1, 2020, clarifying amendments to rules regarding communications with the public and use of promotional material will go into effect.
• Effective February 1, 2020, CTA will be subject to new limitations...more
12/27/2019
/ Amended Rules ,
Asset Management ,
Brokers ,
Business Development Companies ,
CFTC ,
Commodity Pool ,
Commodity Trading Advisors (CTAs) ,
Compliance ,
CPOs ,
Electronic Communications ,
Exemptions ,
Family Offices ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Companies ,
Investment Management ,
NFA ,
Offshore Funds ,
Registration Requirement ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
On August 21, 2019, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) voted 3 to 2 to adopt new interpretive guidance (the “Voting Interpretation”) applicable to investment advisers regarding their proxy voting responsibilities as...more
9/6/2019
/ Conflicts of Interest ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Duty of Care ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Informed Consent ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Management ,
Investors ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Proxy Advisors ,
Proxy Advisory Firms ,
Proxy Voting ,
Proxy Voting Guidelines ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Supervision