The principle of attorney-client confidentiality is sacrosanct. In California, for example, an attorney may only reveal a client’s confidential information to the extent the attorney “reasonably believes the disclosure is necessary to prevent a criminal act that the [attorney] reasonably believes is likely to result in death or substantial bodily […]
This year will go down in history as the year of the great fiduciary wars: advisors v. brokers, DOL v. SEC, Senator Elizabeth Warren v. the entire financial services industry…the list could go on. Tensions have flared and much ink has been shed. When the dust and rhetoric settles, the […]
Mandatory pre-dispute arbitration clauses in advisory contracts are all the rage… and I mean that both literally and figuratively. It has become both a popular dispute resolution mechanism between advisors and their clients, and at the same time has enraged critics the likes of which include a cadre of House […]
If you’re reading this article, my working assumption is that at some point in your life you’ve been employed by somebody other than yourself. Odds are you’re working for somebody else at this very moment, perhaps even plotting the day you jump ship and join a competitor or set out […]
A limited liability company is as easy to set up as it is to screw up. Though it is justifiably advisors’ favored business structure due to its simplicity, flexibility and liability protections, there are still a select few “corporate formalities” that should be observed. The primary such formality is what’s […]
October 26th marked the final day of briefing before the SEC in what could be a very precedential case for investments advisors, compliance officers and the independent compliance consulting community. In the Matter of The Robare Group, Ltd. began its life in September 2014 as an order instituting administrative and cease-and-desist […]
This past week the SEC announced a $40 million enforcement action against investment advisor First Eagle Investment Management and its affiliated broker-dealer FEF Distributers for what it touted as the first to arise from its “distribution-in-guise” initiative. Advisors to funds have been anxiously awaiting some sort of guidance since the […]
Investment advisory contracts (and most contracts, in general) are typically long, laborious and full of legalese. Paid-by-the-word attorneys have to pay for their silk ties somehow, right? If drafted properly, however, such contracts can also be immensely helpful in clarifying roles and responsibilities between the advisor and the client, and […]
Advisor continuity and succession planning has been written about and talked about ad nauseam, but I would say justifiably so. It is a critical industry-wide issue that warrants industry-wide action. Yet each and every advisor’s individual situation is unique and requires individualized attention to the nitty-gritty details. One such detail […]
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 […]
If an advisor is able to withstand narcoleptic impulses when reviewing its investment advisory contract, I suggest taking a moment to focus on the section that addresses the advisor’s limitations of liability. In regulatory-speak, this clause of the contract is known as a “hedge clause,” and is typically found near […]
The purchase, sale or merger of an advisory practice involves a whirlwind of tightly-coordinated efforts by a myriad of different parties. In the shuffle of negotiating the deal terms, settling on a valuation methodology, coordinating with custodians and integrating technological systems, when does the client get a say, if any? […]
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 […]
On November 17, 2009, an act of God occurred: eight federal agencies agreed on something. That something was a set of four model privacy notice forms that could be delivered to consumers (including investment advisory clients) to satisfy the information disclosure requirements of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLB). Said another way, use of […]