2020 Compliance Round-Up: The Top 10 Regulatory Headlines for Investment Advisers This Year WHAT HAPPENED? Amid the unique changes and challenges 2020 has brought, there has been plenty of regulatory news from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) in the [...]
Firm Fined for Violating Custody Rule and Miscalculating Performance Fees WHAT HAPPENED? Recently, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charged a private fund adviser with violating sections of the Advisers Act governing performance fee calculations, the Custody Rule, and written policies and procedures and annual review requirements; the firm [...]
SEC exam trends: 5 areas of focus for RIAs WHAT HAPPENED? Although routine examinations may include requests related to any area of your firm’s operations, examiners may focus on certain compliance risks that have been identified or those itemized in a Risk Alert. Staying up to date with SEC [...]
Avoid the risk of using common passwords– make your accounts more secure today WHAT HAPPENS IF I USE COMMON PASSWORDS? Password spray attacks target user accounts by attempting to access hundreds of thousands of accounts with the same common password at once, instead of testing many password combinations on [...]
Private fund adviser ordered to pay over $1 million after violating partnership agreement WHAT HAPPENED? Recently, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission sanctioned a registered investment adviser for violating antifraud provisions of the Advisers Act. The violations stemmed from the adviser overcharging limited partners of a private equity [...]
OCIE Risk Alert: common compliance program issues WHAT HAPPENED? On Nov. 19, 2020, the Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (OCIE) released a Risk Alert outlining common compliance concerns among registered investment advisers. The list was compiled based on recent compliance examinations [...]
OCIE examiners report common branch office compliance deficiencies WHAT HAPPENED? On Nov. 9, 2020, the Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (OCIE) released a new Risk Alert outlining recent observations from examinations of SEC-registered investment advisers. In general, advisers with numerous branch [...]
New Investment Company Act rule updates regulatory requirements for fund of funds arrangements WHAT HAPPENED? Recently, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission adopted a new rule and related amendments regarding fund of funds arrangements. The rule, 12d1-4, aims to streamline a comprehensive regulatory approach to these arrangements. Recent numbers [...]
IARD Annual Renewal Dates WHAT IS COMING UP SOON? Every year at this time, FINRA will post its Renewal Statements in the IARD Portal. These fees are collected for system processing and jurisdiction-related renewals. Pertinent dates related to the renewal are as follows: Preliminary [...]
Reminder: Upcoming SEC Compliance Outreach Seminar WHAT HAPPENED? On Thursday, Nov. 19, 2020, the Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is hosting the Compliance Outreach Program National Seminar from 12:00-5:00 pm ET. The seminar will focus on providing resources to Chief Compliance [...]