Category: Investment Management & Securities

On March 20, 2019, the Massachusetts Securities Division, Enforcement Section (the “Division”) filed a complaint against an investment adviser located in Massachusetts. The complaint alleged that the firm’s two owners and financial professionals “gambled away millions of dollars in client assets through high risk bets on the oil and gas market.”[1] This author vehemently disagrees with the Division’s complaint and the message it sends to the industry.

Read More about Massachusetts Securities Division Changes the Law Applicable to Investment Advisers Overnight

In April 2018, California’s Department of Business Oversight (“DBO”) announced that, beginning in October, it will begin conducting an online questionnaire-based examination of certain investment advisers registered with the DBO. This digital examination will be in addition to the DBO’s onsite examination program. The DBO recently sent registered investment advisers a reminder of this pending initiative. It is unclear from the DBO’s communications whether this online examination will be required for every investment adviser on an annual basis or only after an investment adviser receives an examination request.

Read More about California to Conduct Written Electronic Examination of State-Registered Investment Advisers

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) are now conducting examinations of investment advisers concerning “crypto-assets,” which they define to include crypto-currency, initial coin offerings, distributed ledger technology, blockchain or any related products, and pooled investment vehicles investing in these assets or technology.

Read More about SEC’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations Begins Conducting Targeted Reviews Related to Crypto-Assets

Stark & Stark’s Investment Management & Securities Practice Group submitted a comment letter to the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission (“SEC”) in response to the SEC’s proposed interpretation of the standard of conduct under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940.

While Stark & Stark largely agreed with the SEC’s proposed interpretation of the standard of conduct, it took issue with its characterization of the duty of care owed by investment advisers. As a general matter, investment advisers owe their clients both a duty of care and a duty of loyalty. Stark & Stark generally agreed with the SEC’s framework surrounding the duty of loyalty. However, the SEC’s proposed interpretation of the duty of care would require “the duty to act and to provide advice that is in the best interest of the client.”

Read More about Stark & Stark Investment Management & Securities Practice Group Submits a Comment Letter to the SEC on Recent Rule Proposals

Investment advisers should take note, as there has been an announcement of a new rule which might affect them. More specifically, any investment advisers that: (1) act solely as advisers to one or more venture capital funds; (2) are exempt from the registration requirements under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940; and (3) comply with SEC Rule 203(1)-1 (regarding venture capital advisers), are excluded from the District of Columbia Securities Act’s investment adviser definition, according to a new order issued on February 8, 2016. Exempt venture capital advisers excluded from the investment adviser definition must now comply with SEC Rule 204-4 reporting requirements.

To comply with Rule 204-4, an adviser must subject itself to the Exempt Reporting Adviser regime by gaining entitlement through the IARD, prepare a Form ADV as an Exempt Reporting Adviser, and submit it to the SEC and the DC Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking. The IARD will require a $250 fee that will be paid directly to the District of Columbia and a $150 fee that will be paid to the SEC.

Read More about Washington DC Issues New Exempt Reporting Adviser Rule for Venture Capital Funds

Introduction

On December 30, 2014, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) approved a new Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) rule governing transaction-based payments to unregistered persons. The new FINRA rule—Rule 2040—became effective on August 24, 2015. If you are a FINRA-registered broker-dealer that currently pays an unregistered person, now is a perfect time to examine the relationship and make sure that these payments are proper. In addition, if you are an unregistered or unlicensed person, then you may want to make sure that you can receive or continue receiving these payments. Lastly, if your firm permits “selling groups” of registered representatives for expense paying and marketing purposes, it is also a good time to reassess these practices.

More specifically, this new rule addresses many situations that can arise in a broker-dealer’s regular course of business. These situations include, but are not limited to:

• Asset purchase arrangements between current representatives;
• The receipt of continuing compensation by retiring representatives, their beneficiaries, or estates; and,
• Referral arrangements.

As a result of these new changes, the current FINRA rules addressing payments to non-registered persons, as well as related New York Stock Exchange rules have been deleted from the FINRA rulebook. The rest of this article deals specifically with the requirements and implications of Rule 2040 and Section 15(a) of the Securities Exchange Act (the “Exchange Act”).

Read More about Payments of Transaction-Based Compensation by FINRA Members – A Changing Game for Asset Purchases, Selling Groups and Retiring Representatives