In the summer the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published its advice and opinion on the proposal to extend the marketing passport to non-EU alternative investment fund managers (AIFM) and non-EU funds. The passport would enable non-EU AIFMs to market their funds across the EU under the single AIFMD…
Strategy shifts now the focus, the SEC extracts another pound of flesh from a fund adviser. In a recently settled administrative proceeding, UBS agreed to return $8.2 million of advisory fees to investors, compensate investors for $4.9 million of investment losses and pay $4.4 million in interest and penalties to the…
The SEC, again, makes it clear: all aspects of fee, expense and other arrangements must be disclosed accurately and in detail before commitments are accepted. The SEC recently announced a settlement with three investment advisor affiliates of The Blackstone Group (the Advisors) that were accused of breaching their fiduciary duty…
U.S. Investment advisers, other financial services providers, and pooled investment vehicles – private and public funds – involved in certain cross-border transactions must file. Background The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Economic Analysis (“BEA”) is conducting its next five-year “Benchmark Survey of U.S. Financial Services Providers and Foreign Persons”…
The U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued a notice of proposed rulemaking on August 25, 2015 which, among other things, would add SEC-registered investment advisers to the “financial institutions” regulated under the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA). This represents another step by the U.S. government to expand the…
In a release issued today, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has proposed anti-money laundering (AML) regulations for investment advisers. The proposed rule requires investment advisers registered or required to be registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to establish AML programs and report suspicious activity to FinCEN pursuant…
Kimberly Mann, co-head of Pillsbury’s Investment Funds and Investment Management Group, was interviewed and quoted at length in an article published in FundFire this week. The article explored whether regulators should permit asset managers to settle cases without admitting culpability. In response to that question, Ms. Mann, who has expertise…
The U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network will soon propose new rules that may require investment advisers to establish and implement written anti-money laundering programs designed to prevent advisory clients from using advisers to launder funds or perpetrate other criminal activities. The rules also may require advisers to report…
On August 6, 2015, the Treasury and the IRS issued Notice 2015-54, which implements a Clinton-era tax provision intended to prevent U.S. taxpayers from using the partnership provisions of the Code to shift built-in gain on property contributed to a partnership to non-U.S. affiliates of the transferor that are partners…
In the Federal Register for July 23, 2015, the Treasury Department published proposed regulations regarding the circumstances under which partnership allocations and distributions will be treated as disguised payments for services. These proposed regulations are aimed at attempts by investment fund managers to convert ordinary, management fee income into tax-favored…