The annual affirmation process started on December 3, 2013. Advisers who relied on an exemption or exclusion from CPO registration under CFTC Regulation 4.5, 4.13(a)(1), 4.13(a)(2), 4.13(a)(3), 4.13(a)(5) or an exemption from CTA registration under 4.14(a)(8) and filed a notice with the NFA must affirm the exemption or exclusion annually…
Written by guest contributor, Bruce Frumerman, Frumerman & Nemeth Inc. This article first appeared in FINAlternatives on February 3, 2014 and is re-printed with permission below. ‘Soft’ manager qualities are often what separates your fund from competitors is a summary finding in the recently reported survey of institutional consultants and…
Written by: Jessica M. Brown The Securities and Exchange Commission charged a registered investment adviser and its principal for making false claims over social media regarding their inflated performance claims with respect to a mutual fund managed by the adviser. Through a Twitter account and a widely circulated newsletter, Mark…
Written by: Jessica M. Brown The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and the United States Department of Labor (“DOL”) announced sanctions today against Western Asset Management Company (“Western Asset”), a subsidiary of Legg Mason. Western Asset is an SEC-registered investment adviser and reported $442.7 billion in assets under management as…
Written by: Joseph T. Lynyak, III and Anthony H. Schouten More than three years following the passage of the Dodd-Frank Act, and intense inter-agency negotiations, the federal financial regulatory agencies collectively adopted the final version of the “Volcker Rule,” or “Rule”—which imposes new and potentially severe limitations on domestic and…
Written by: Jessica M. Brown As a result of recent amendments made by the U.S. Department of Treasury to the Treasury International Capital Form B (“Form B”), private funds and investment advisers may be required to file Form B. Form B requires a fund manager or investment adviser to report…
Written by: Jessica M. Brown The Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) approved two new Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) rules as part of FINRA’s ongoing rulebook consolidation process. The two new rules approved by the SEC on December 23, 2013 consolidate a number of existing NASD and NYSE rules…
Today, the Securities and Exchange Commission published its 2014 priorities for its National Examination Program (“NEP”). These priorities cover a wide range of issues at financial institutions, including investment advisers and investment companies, broker-dealers, clearing agencies, exchanges and other self-regulatory organizations, hedge funds, private equity funds, and transfer agents. Similar…
As the new year is upon us, there are some important annual compliance obligations Investment Advisers either registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) or with a particular state (“Investment Adviser”) and Commodity Pool Operators (“CPOs”) or Commodity Trading Advisors (“CTAs”) registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission…
This guest post from Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP, co-authored by Ross McKee, Partner, Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP, is reprinted here with permission. INTRODUCTION The Canadian Securities Administrators have proposed a new uniform Canadian registration exemption for investment sub-advisers, as part of a package of proposed amendments to Canadian…