I can’t guarantee much from my personal crystal ball, but looking across the regulatory horizon into 2016 there is one undeniable certainty: Securities attorneys will be just fine. The sheer volume of complicated rulemaking that is pouring out of Washington bodes well for billable hours but not for bottom lines. […]
A recent string of SEC enforcement actions should prompt advisors to carefully review their Form ADV for one potentially dangerous word: “may.” It likely appears many times throughout various sections, and in most instances is likely perfectly appropriate. Where it isn’t appropriate, the SEC has made clear, is when it […]
The rulemaking phraseology of the SEC can be, at times, somewhat antiquated when it comes to the brave new world of the Internet and technology. To this day, there are references in the Advisers Act and the rules thereunder to, for example, “chat rooms,” “bulletin boards,” and “microfiche.” At the […]
By this point, all advisors with a Dec. 31 fiscal year-end should have filed their annual updating amendment to Forms ADV Part 1 and 2 with the Securities and Exchange Commission through the Investment Adviser Registration Depository. If any material changes occurred since the last annual updating amendment, advisors should […]
Conflicts of interest are inherent and at times inescapable in the financial services industry. The entire brokerage and commission-based industry was arguably built on one: a broker getting paid per transaction to sell certain products to clients (i.e., the broker is arguably incentivized to trade an account and recommend securities […]
Malls are starting to be overrun with holiday shoppers, temperatures are dropping and congressional members will soon take a recess from fulfilling their civic duty of wearing power suits and hemorrhaging taxpayer dollars. Ah yes, all the signs of a coming winter are upon us. Although the SEC may have […]