The 18th Annual Global Hedge Fund Summit will be held in Bermuda on April 15-17, 2012. Jay Gould will be speaking at this event on a panel entitled “The Crossroads of Law & Finance,” that will examine the investment world and its interaction with the ever-evolving legal landscape. For more…
Written by: Ildiko Duckor and Peter Chess In light of the current regulatory environment, now more than ever, it is critical for you to comply with all of the legal requirements and best practices applicable to Investment Advisers. The beginning of the year is a good time to review, consider…
Last week’s article on HFMWeek entitled “Disclosure Gets Closer” discussed registration requirements of investment advisers to hedge funds under the Dodd-Frank Act. The article, which was written by Will Wainewright, quoted Jay Gould, a partner and member of our Investment Fund and Investment Management team, who said “[T]he most difficult…
Written by: Jay Gould and Peter Chess 1. What is the Form PF? The Form PF (PF is short for “private funds”) is a new form that focuses mainly on private fund reporting with regard to information such as counterparty dealings, leverage, and investment exposure. A “private fund” under the Form…
Written by Peter J. Chess On November 30, 2011, FINRA and the SEC’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) released a National Exam Risk Alert on effective procedures and policies for broker-dealer branch inspections. This follows other recent guidance for broker-dealers regarding the Market Access Rule and reasonable investigations…
Written by Ildiko Duckor An entity that meets the definition of a “Large Trader” after October 3, 2011 must file its initial Form 13H with the SEC by December 1, 2011 to be assigned a large trader identification number (LTID). The filing is done electronically through the SEC’s EDGAR system. …
Written by Jay Gould On November 28, 2011, the SEC charged OMNI Investment Advisors, Inc. of Utah, Feltl & Company Inc. of Minneapolis and Asset Advisors LLC of Troy, Michigan for failing to adopt and implement compliance procedures designed to prevent securities law violations. The three enforcement actions discussed below…
Written by Jay Gould On Wednesday, November 16, 2011, the SEC charged Morgan Stanley Investment Management (“MSIM”) with violating securities laws in a fee arrangement that costs a fund and its investors approximately $1.8 million in sub-adviser fees. MSIM is the primary adviser to The Malaysia Fund (the “Fund”), a…
Written by John L. Nicholson On October 13, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Division of Corporation Finance released CF Disclosure Guidance: Topic No. 2 – Cybersecurity (the “Guidance”), which is intended to instruct companies on whether and how to disclose the impact of the risk and cost of cybersecurity incidents…
Written by Michael Wu By order released by the SEC on November 10, 2011, Western Pacific Capital Management LLC, a San Diego-based investment adviser, and its President, Kevin James O’Rourke, were charged with fraud for failing to disclose a conflict of interest to clients and materially misrepresenting the liquidity of…