Articles Posted in Investment Advisers

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  • Mandatory reporting required by the Bureau of Economic Analysis on Form BE-10 – 2014 Benchmark Survey of U.S. Direct Investment Abroad
  • Investment managers, general partners, hedge funds and private equity funds are among those that may have to file

What is BE-10?

BE-10 is a benchmark survey of U.S. direct investment abroad, conducted once every five years by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (“BEA”) of the U.S. Department of Commerce. The purpose of the survey is to obtain economic data on the operations of U.S. parent companies and their foreign affiliates. The BE-10 survey is conducted pursuant to the International Investment and Trade in Services Survey Act, and the filing of reports is mandatory pursuant to Section 5(b)(2) of that Act. BE-10 reports are kept confidential and used for statistical analysis.

What is the filing deadline?

May 29, 2015 – if you are a U.S. Reporter (defined below) filing to report fewer than 50 Foreign Affiliates (defined below).

June 30, 2015 – if you are a U.S. Reporter filing to report 50 or more Foreign Affiliates.

Extensions. The BEA will consider reasonable requests for extensions if received before the applicable due date of the report. Extension requests should “enumerate the substantive reasons necessitating the extension” on the form provided by the BEA.

Who must file?

All U.S. persons that had direct or indirect ownership or control (each, a “U.S. Reporter”) of at least 10%[i] of the voting stock of a foreign business enterprise (a “Foreign Affiliate”) at any time during the entity’s 2014 fiscal year must file.

Any U.S. general partner or investment manager of a private fund could be a U.S. Reporter, and any hedge fund, private equity fund, or other private fund could be either a U.S. Reporter or a Foreign Affiliate, if they meet the above criteria.

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[i] A U.S. Reporter’s ownership interest in a Foreign Affiliate may be held indirectly through a directly held Foreign Affiliate that owned the given foreign enterprise. You must “look through” all intervening foreign enterprises in the chain to determine whether you hold a foreign business enterprise to the extent of 10% or more. To calculate your ultimate ownership percentage, multiply the direct ownership percentage in the first Foreign Affiliate by that first Foreign Affiliate’s direct ownership percentage in the second enterprise in the chain, multiplied by the direct ownership percentage for all other intervening enterprises in the ownership chain, until you reach the ownership percentage in the final foreign business enterprise. To illustrate, if a U.S. Reporter owned 50% of Foreign Affiliate A directly, and A owned 75% of foreign business enterprise B which, in turn, owned 80% of foreign business enterprise C, the U.S. Reporter’s percentage of indirect ownership of B would be 37.5% (the product of the first two percentages), its indirect ownership of C would be 30% (the product of all three percentages), and B and C (as well as A) would be considered Foreign Affiliates of the U.S. Reporter.

Read this article and additional publications at pillsburylaw.com/publications-and-presentations.

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The expense provisions of many private fund governing documents are becoming longer and more detailed for good reason – increased Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) scrutiny and prosecution relating to expense allocation and disclosure.

On April 29th, the SEC announced charges against Alpha Titans LLC, a hedge fund advisory firm, its principal, Timothy P. McCormack and its general counsel, Kelly D. Kaeser, for improper use of fund assets to pay expenses that were not previously disclosed to fund investors. According to the SEC, office rent, employee salaries and benefits and other expenses totaling more than $450,000 were paid by two affiliated private funds without adequate disclosure or authorization. The SEC further alleged that Alpha Titans, McCormack and Kaeser sent investors audited financials that did not disclose that approximately $3 million of expenses pertained to transactions involving affiliates of McCormack.

According to the SEC, the funds’ outside auditor, Simon Lesser, was aware of the manner in which expenses and assets were allocated, yet approved audit reports containing unqualified opinions that the financial statements were presented fairly. He was charged with engaging in improper professional conduct in connection with an audit of the funds’ financial statements. The advisory firm also was charged with custody rule violations relating to its distribution on non-GAAP-compliant financial statements.

All of the charges were settled without admission or denial of responsibility; however, not without significant cost. McCormack and Kaeser will be barred from the securities industry for one year and Kaeser will be unable to represent an SEC-regulated entity for one year. Lesser will be suspended from providing accounting services on behalf of an entity regulated by the SEC for at least three years. Substantial monetary penalties also were assessed and the advisory firm and its principal agreed to pay disgorgement and prejudgment interest.

The lesson for private funds, their advisers and outside auditors is simple. First, fund documents should clearly, accurately and thoroughly disclose the types and amounts of expenses to be charged to the fund or its investors. Second, fund managers must allocate expenses and use fund assets strictly in accordance with the relevant provisions in the fund documents. Finally, outside auditors must be diligent in reviewing expense allocations and the use of fund assets to determine compliance with fund documents.

There should be no doubt that the risk of non-compliance is real.

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The Division of Investment Management (the “Division”) of the Securities and Exchange Commission issued a cybersecurity guidance identifying cybersecurity of registered investment companies (“funds”) and registered investment advisers (“advisers”) as an important issue. Recognizing the rapidly changing nature of cyber threats and consequently, the necessity for funds and advisers to protect sensitive information including information of fund investors and advisory clients, the Division is suggesting a number of measures that funds and advisers may wish to consider in addressing the issue. To mitigate cybersecurity risk, the Division suggests that funds and advisers: 1) conduct a periodic assessment of their technology system and security controls and processes to identify potential cybersecurity threats and vulnerabilities, 2) create a strategy that is designed to prevent, detect and respond to cybersecurity threats, and 3) implement the strategy through written policies and procedures, training of officers and employees, and investor and client education. In addition, the Division also suggests that funds and advisers may wish to consider reviewing their operations and compliance programs whether they have measures in place that mitigate their exposure to cybersecurity risk, as well as assessing whether protective cybersecurity measures are in place at service providers that they rely on in carrying out their business operations.

A full version of the cybersecurity guidance is available HERE.

Please call an Investment Funds and Investment Management attorney with your inquiries regarding your firm’s cybersecurity risks and compliance procedures that address them.

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On April 20, 2015, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) issued an order against an investment advisory firm and its former chief compliance officer, for violating Sections 206(2) and 206(4) and rule 206(4)-7 of the Investment Advisers Act and rule 38a-1 of the Investment Company Act. The SEC charged BlackRock Advisors LLC with breaching its fiduciary duty by failing to disclose a conflict of interest involving the outside business activity of one of its top-performing portfolio managers, Daniel J. Rice III. BlackRock agreed to be censured and to settle the charges by paying a $12 million penalty and engaging an independent compliance consultant to conduct an internal review.

During his tenure as an energy sector portfolio manager at BlackRock, Rice founded an oil and gas exploration and production company, formed a joint venture with a public company held in his managed funds, and acquired a second public company also held in BlackRock portfolios. BlackRock learned of Rice’s outside business activity, but allowed him to continue his involvement. The SEC found that BlackRock failed to report the conflicts of interest to the board of directors of the affected registered funds or advisory clients and failed to monitor and reassess Rice’s outside business activity after discovering the conflicts of interest. The SEC also censured BlackRock for failing to maintain and implement internal policies regarding the outside activities of employees. While Blackrock’s policies required employees to report potential conflicts and to seek pre-approval before serving on a board of directors, the firm failed to outline how employees’ outside activities would be assessed for conflicts purposes or to identify the individuals responsible for assessing outside activities.

Additionally, the SEC found BlackRock’s former chief compliance officer personally liable for causing the failure by BlackRock funds to report material compliance matters—namely Rice’s violation of BlackRock’s private investment policy—to their board of directors. The ex-officer agreed to pay a $60,000 civil penalty to settle the charge.

If you have question concerning your firm’s internal policies on the outside business activities of employees, please reach out to your Pillsbury attorney contact.

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On April 14, 2015, the Department of Labor issued its much anticipated re-proposal of regulations defining and expanding the persons who are treated as ERISA fiduciaries.  Under the proposal, subject to certain exceptions, all persons who  provide investment advice or recommendations for a fee to an employer-sponsored  retirement plan, plan fiduciary, plan participant, IRA or IRA owner would be deemed “fiduciaries”.  Other than investment education and “order taking”, most other investment sales related activities will result in fiduciary status.  Some of these advisors are subject to federal securities laws, others are not.

Being a fiduciary means that the advisor must provide impartial advice and put the client’s best interest first and must not accept any compensation payments creating conflicts of interest unless the payments qualify for an exemption (newly proposed) intended to ensure that the customer is adequately protected.  If the regulations are finalized, compliance with the terms of the new exemption will be a necessary condition for continuing many of the compensation practices currently in use by the investment industry.

We expect to issue a Client Alert on the Proposal and new Rule.  If you have any questions, please feel free to contact our Funds or Employee Benefits attorneys.

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In a February 2015 Guidance Update, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Investment Management (“SEC”), provided guidance on the acceptance of gifts or entertainment by fund advisory personnel under Section 17(e)(1) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the “Act”). Section 17(e)(1) provides that any affiliated person of a registered investment company, or any affiliated person of such person acting as agent, is prohibited from receiving any compensation, outside of regular salary or wages, for the purchase or sale of any property to or for the registered company or any controlled company thereof. The SEC has found that gifts or entertainment meet the definition of “compensation” as it is used in Section 17(e)(1), and proof of any intended or actual influence is not required. Pursuant to Rule 38a-1 of the Act, a fund must implement written policies and procedure designed to prevent the fund and its service providers from violating securities laws. The Guidance Update suggests that the policies and procedures concerning the receipt of gifts or entertainment should be included in the fund’s compliance policies and procedures, though it defers to the fund to determine whether there should be an outright ban, or a type of pre-clearance to determine if the gift or entertainment would violate Section 17(e)(1).

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The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) issued a cease-and-desist order on February 19, 2015 against SEC-registered Logical Wealth Management, Inc. and owner, Daniel J. Gopen, (together, “Respondents”).  The list of violations the SEC found the Respondents committed is extensive and includes improper registration, compliance, and recordkeeping. The SEC found the Respondents exaggerated their assets under management in order to register with the SEC, falsely reported their place of business as Wyoming, a state in which advisers are not regulated, and did not have compliance policies and procedures in place or books and records available to the SEC.  The SEC has ordered the Respondents to cease and desist, revoked Logical Wealth’s registration, barred Mr. Gopen from any advisory activity and imposed a $25,000 civil penalty.

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We want to remind you of your firm’s annual investment adviser registration amendment (Form ADV annual amendment) which must be filed on the IARD system on or before March 31, 2015.  This deadline applies to all SEC and State registered advisers as well as Exempt Reporting Advisers (ERAs) with a December 31, 2014 fiscal year end.

Please let us know as soon as you can if you need our assistance in preparing and submitting your Form ADV annual amendment filing this year.

Also, for SEC registered advisers and ERAs, please note that your annual IARD fee must be paid before you can submit your annual amendment.  The fees are based on your firm’s regulatory assets under management as follows:

Regulatory Assets
Under Management		 Initial
Registration Fee		 Annual Updating
Amendment Fee
$100 million or more $225 $225
$25 million to $100 million $150 $150
Less than $25 million $40 $40
SEC Exempt Reporting Adviser $150 $150

To view FINRA’s current IARD Account Payment Methods and Addresses, please click HERE.

If you or your compliance officer is handling your Form ADV filing and you would like us to review your drafts, please feel free to contact us also.

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The Securities and Exchange Commission’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (“OCIE”) recently released its annual examination priorities.  In 2015, OCIE will focus on three primary “themes” involving broker-dealers, investment advisers and transfer agents:

  1. Retail Investors – OCIE will look at important matters for retail investors and investors preparing for retirement including whether the products, advice, services and information being offered to them is consistent with current laws, rules and regulations;
  2. Market-Wide Risks – this is a broad theme which focuses on structural risks and trends involving whole industries or multiple firms; and
  3. Data Analytics – OCIE continues to increase its ability to analyze large amounts of data to identify registrants that may be conducting illegal activity.

Retail Investors – Advisers to retail investors and investors saving for retirement will be scrutinized by the SEC in 2015. The OCIE will assess fee selection where the adviser offers a variety of fee arrangements as well as reverse churning. Further, where advisers recommend moving retirement assets from employer-sponsored plans into other investments or accounts, OCIE will examine whether the sales practices used were improper or misleading. OCIE will also be reviewing the suitability of complex or structured products and higher yield securities and how well representatives in branch offices are being supervised by the home office.  The SEC may have an interesting opportunity to demonstrate whether it is serious in going after those who target seniors.

On February 5, 2015, SEC Commissioner Luis A. Aguilar and Investor Advocate, Rick A. Fleming, gave speeches at The American Retirement Initiative Winter Summit about advocating for investors saving for retirement and protecting elderly investors from financial exploitation.

Under the umbrella theme of “retail investors,” the OCIE will be assessing alternative investment companies and the focus of the exams will be (i) liquidity, leverage and valuation; (ii) the way the funds are marketed; and (iii) the internal controls, staffing, funding and empowerment of boards, compliance and back-offices. Mutual funds with material exposure to interest rate increases will be reviewed by OCIE to ensure they have the appropriate compliance policies and procedures and trading and investment controls in place to prevent their disclosures from being misleading and to be sure their investment and liquidity profiles are consistent with the fund’s disclosures.

Assessing Market-Wide Risks – The OCIE will focus in 2015 on structural risks and trends that involve whole industries or multiple firms. In collaboration with the Division of Trading and Markets and the Division of Investment Management, the OCIE will monitor the largest asset managers and broker-dealers. Through a risk-based approach, the OCIE will conduct annual examinations of all clearing agencies that have been designated systemically important. Furthering the OCIE’s 2014 efforts to examine the cybersecurity preparedness of registrants, 2015 will see a continuation of the initiative and an expansion of the initiative to include transfer agents. OCIE will also be looking into whether firms are giving priority to trading venues due to credits or payments for order flow, thus violating their best execution duties.

Data Analytics – The OCIE has made strides in developing data analytics that it can use to identify and examine firms and other registrants that may be engaged in fraudulent or illegal activity. The examination initiatives the OCIE will be using data analytics to examine include recidivists, microcap fraud, excessive trading and anti-money laundering.

Other Initiatives – Along with the primary themes discussed above, the SEC will continue to examine never-before examined investment advisers and newly registered municipal advisers. Advisers to private equity funds can expect to have their fees and expenses examined as a result of OCIE’s observed high rates of deficiencies. In addition to examining proxy advisory service firms, OCIE will also look at investment advisers’ compliance with their fiduciary duty to vote proxies on their investors’ behalf.

Advisers and broker-dealers should always be prepared for an SEC examination and ensure all written policies and procedures are in place and regularly audited for efficacy and compliance. Should you be subject to an examination, any deficiencies noted by the SEC should be addressed and rectified in a timely manner.

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Certain Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) exemptions require annual affirmation, including CPO exemptions under Regulation 4.5, 4.13(a)(1), 4.13(a)(2), 4.13(a)(3), and 4.13(a)(5) and CTA exemptions under Regulation 4.14(a)(8). If you rely on one of these exemptions, you must affirm the annual claim of exemption by March 2, 2015 using the NFA Exemptions website. http://www.nfa.futures.org/NFA-electronic-filings/exemptions.html