The issue of how firms should pay for investment research continues to be a controversial topic in the financial markets. The U.S. has maintained the approach it adopted before the mid-2000s, which is to permit investment...more
7/3/2023
/ Broker-Dealer ,
EU ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Markets ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Investment Adviser ,
Market Research ,
MiFID II ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
UK
The issue of how investment research should be paid for by investors is controversial, long-standing and seemingly perennially the subject of legislative iterations, failure and unintended consequence and more reform. Before...more
On April 26, 2022, the Division of Examinations (the “Division”) of the Securities and Exchange Commission issued a Risk Alert listing notable examples of deficiencies that its staff has identified regarding investment...more
Proposed Amendments to Form 13F Would Increase the Reporting Threshold from $100 Million to $3.5 Billion, Among Other Changes
On July 10, 2020, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a proposed rule (the...more
On June 23, 2020, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) issued a Risk Alert (the “Risk Alert”) highlighting several problem areas that it has identified...more
On April 21, 2020, the U.S. Securities Commission (the “SEC”) proposed a new rule under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the “1940 Act”) to govern the valuation practices and the role of boards of directors regarding the...more
On April 8, 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), adopted amendments that would allow business development companies (BDCs) and registered closed-end funds (CEFs), to use the securities offering rules that are...more
As the world responds to COVID-19, we have identified a wide variety of compliance and legal considerations for asset managers. We previously summarized a select list of these considerations on March 18, 2020. Given the...more
In an Order dated March 25, 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission offered an exemption to investment advisers that are confronting COVID-19-related disruptions with respect to certain filing obligations.
The Order...more
In an Order dated March 25, 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission extended the exemptions offered to investment companies, business development companies (BDCs) and investment advisers grappling with challenges to the...more
3/27/2020
/ Annual Reports ,
Business Development Companies ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Exemptions ,
Filing Requirements ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Companies ,
Investment Funds ,
Investment Management ,
Registered Investment Companies (RICs) ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Voting Requirements
In response to the outbreak of the COVID-19 coronavirus disease, the Securities and Exchange Commission took extraordinary action to bolster liquidity for registered investment companies through at least June 30, 2020. In an...more
3/27/2020
/ Affiliates ,
Borrowers ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Emergency Orders ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Funds ,
Investment Management ,
Lenders ,
Liquidity ,
Open-Ended Fund Companies (OFCs) ,
Registered Investment Companies (RICs) ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
As the world responds to COVID-19, we have identified a number of compliance and legal considerations for asset managers. We summarize a select list of these in our note below....more
3/20/2020
/ Asset Management ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Chief Compliance Officers ,
Commodity Pool ,
Commodity Trading Advisors (CTAs) ,
Compliance ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Cyber Threats ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Force Majeure Clause ,
Futures ,
Information Security ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Companies ,
Liquidity ,
NFA ,
Registered Investment Companies (RICs) ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Short Selling ,
Telecommuting ,
Valuation
In an Order dated March 13, 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission offered an exemption to investment advisers that are confronting COVID-19-related disruptions with respect to certain filing obligations....more
In an Order dated March 13, 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission offered an exemption to investment companies, business development companies (BDCs) and investment advisers grappling with challenges to the routine...more
On September 26, 2019, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) adopted a final rule under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the “Investment Company Act”) that will enable most exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”) to...more
11/26/2019
/ Amended Rules ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
ETFs ,
Exchange-Traded Products ,
Exemptive Orders ,
Final Rules ,
Investment Company Act of 1940 ,
Open-Ended Fund Companies (OFCs) ,
Rule 6c-11 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act
In a Risk Alert dated November 7, 2019, the SEC’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations reminded investment company advisers and boards that examiners are looking carefully at how firms approach and document the...more
11/26/2019
/ Compliance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Ethics ,
Global Code of Ethics ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Advisory Agreements ,
Money Market Funds ,
OCIE ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Risk Alert ,
SEC Examination Priorities ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
On November 4, 2019, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed amendments to rules governing investment adviser advertisements and payment to solicitors under the Investment Advisers Act. The comment period...more
11/18/2019
/ Broker-Dealer ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Form ADV ,
General Solicitation ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Advisers Act of 1940 ,
New Guidance ,
No-Action Letters ,
OCIE ,
Proposed Amendments ,
Proposed Rules ,
Reasonable Care ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
Two facts may come as a surprise about the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s existing investment adviser advertising rule: that it literally fits on one page, and that it has not been updated since 1961. These facts...more
11/18/2019
/ Advertising ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Form ADV ,
General Solicitation ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Advisers Act of 1940 ,
New Guidance ,
Proposed Amendments ,
Proposed Rules ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
The Securities and Exchange Commission adopted a long-awaited exemptive rule that will allow most exchange-traded funds (ETFs) to operate without an exemptive order, subject to various conditions. The final rule, which the...more
10/1/2019
/ ETFs ,
Exchange-Traded Products ,
Exemptive Orders ,
Final Rules ,
Foreign Investment ,
Investment Company Act of 1940 ,
Investment Management ,
Registration Statement ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Transparency
On June 5, 2019, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) released a long-anticipated interpretation of investment adviser fiduciary duty under Section 206 of the US Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (“the Advisers...more
6/28/2019
/ Best Interest Standard ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Duty of Care ,
Duty of Loyalty ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Form CRS ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Advisers Act of 1940 ,
New Rules ,
Regulation Best Interest ,
Retail Investors ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Standard of Conduct
In what will be a welcome reprieve, the Securities and Exchange Commission eased compliance burdens for most mutual funds, ETFs and closed-end funds to file portfolio holdings reports on Form N-PORT. The SEC pushed back the...more
The Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) has proposed rules that would modernize the “fund of funds” rules. The rules would replace a patchwork of exemptive rules and orders, with the goal of a “consistent and...more
The Securities and Exchange Commission’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) has issued its examination priorities for 2019. In it, OCIE points out that its examination program covers some 13,200...more
1/15/2019
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Cryptoassets ,
Cybersecurity ,
ETFs ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Investment Adviser ,
MSRB ,
Mutual Funds ,
OCIE ,
Popular ,
Retail Investors ,
SEC Examination Priorities ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
In a new Risk Alert, the SEC’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (“OCIE”) highlighted common compliance issues involving Rule 206(4)-3 under the U.S. Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as amended, otherwise...more
For decades, mutual fund directors have turned to quarterly reports on affiliated cross trades, participation in affiliated underwritings and affiliated brokerage; the reports themselves state that the trades are in...more