Beach Street Legal exists for the sole purpose of helping entrepreneurial investment advisers and financial planners succeed.


The following services have been designed to guide advisers and planners through the legal, regulatory and compliance challenges from inception, through growth, and to succession.

Services

Legal Counsel

  • Outside general counsel focused on corporate and regulatory matters
  • Entity structuring, formation, and operating agreement drafting
  • Contract drafting, review and negotiation to ensure your best interests are protected
  • Privileged and confidential simulated regulatory exams (on-site or completely virtual)
  • Advice in conjunction with dispute avoidance or resolution

Compliance Consulting

  • Compliance program creation, tailored to your specific business
  • Updating and testing of the compliance program pursuant to a compliance calendar
  • Compliance counseling with respect to federal and state securities laws, SEC and state securities regulator rules, no-action relief, and informal guidance updates
  • Assistance with regulatory inquiries, document requests, or an actual regulatory exam

Mergers & Acquisitions

  • Buy-side or sell-side representation during the sale or acquisition of a business
  • Strategic counsel during business combinations or joint ventures
  • Conform the transaction to Advisers Act compliance obligations
  • Draft and negotiate consummating agreements
  • Confidentially match interested buyers and sellers

RIA Formation

  • Craft all documents needed to form an RIA at the state or federal level
  • Manage the regulatory filing process from start to finish, including IARD administration
  • Proactively engage with regulators to facilitate a timely approval
  • Jurisdiction-specific entity formation
  • Discrete formation available for advisers in transition

Disclosure Drafting & Filing

  • Form ADV Part 1, Part 2A brochure, Part 2B brochure supplement, Form CRS relationship summary, and wrap brochures
  • Notice filings or additional state registrations
  • State to SEC or SEC to State transitions
  • Form U4 / U5
  • Safe harbor privacy notice
  • Website, social media, podcast, and general marketing disclosures

Policies & Procedures

  • Customized compliance policies and procedures with recommended updates as necessary
  • Code of Ethics
  • Information security
  • Disaster recovery and business continuity
  • Fully or partially outsourced annual compliance reviews and 206(4)-7 reporting
  • IRA rollover recommendations

CCO Training & Assistance

  • Provided directly to the CCO or to the firm’s staff (on-site or via webinar)
  • Timely articles and summaries of new laws, rules and regulations
  • Assistance with third-party vendor due diligence and oversight
  • Backstop miscellaneous work overflow or catch-up on backlogged compliance tasks

Regulatory Exam Prep

  • “Mock” examinations to simulate an actual regulatory exam, with accompanying report
  • Books and records review to assess exam readiness; resolve any gaps
  • Review document requests as part of an actual regulatory exam, draft responses, and help resolve deficiencies; guide from exam announcement to resolution

Continuity & Succession

  • Document a plan for unexpected succession events like death or disability
  • Protect and realize a firm’s market value as part of a scripted transfer to an identified successor
  • Advice on intergenerational and external transfer plans while complying with clients’ privacy rights and regulatory expectations

About

Chris Stanley
Founder

My name is Chris Stanley, and I’m the Founder of Beach Street Legal. I’ve spent nearly my entire professional career as an investment management attorney, first stumbling into the industry as a part-time legal clerk for a multi-billion dollar advisory firm while still in law school. I’ve served in various legal and compliance capacities since then, including stints as General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer. I’m forever indebted to the incredibly talented colleagues, mentors and friends that have taught me so much along the way, and my goal is to never stop learning and sharing what I’ve learned. The entirety of my educational and professional background can be found over on LinkedIn, but the short version is that I received a B.A. from Boston College and a J.D./M.B.A. from Santa Clara University.

The investment advisory and financial planning community fascinates me. I absolutely love it. The entrepreneurial spirit that embodies this community is what ultimately inspired me to launch Beach Street Legal to help the advisers and planners that work so hard to help their clients. My small contribution is intended to make the legal and compliance aspects of running a business less intimidating by adhering to a few basic principles:

  1. Listen.
  2. Distill the applicable laws, rules and regulations into their simplest form.
  3. Offer specific, practical counsel.
  4. Stay ahead of the regulatory curve.
  5. Act as a fiduciary to other fiduciaries.

If you’d like to learn more, drop me a line or give me a ring. I welcome the opportunity to learn more about your business and how I may be able to help.

~

So what’s with “Beach Street”? During college, I spent a few months studying abroad at the University of New South Wales outside of Sydney, Australia. My assigned housing was a single-family home located at 80 Beach Street in the cozy seaside town of Coogee. I lived with seven other students, and walked to campus and back every day on Beach Street. It was idyllic. I’ll never forget the friends and memories I made during my time there, and am always mindful of just how lucky I was to experience all that I did during that time in my life.

Jackie Perucki
Compliance Analyst

Jackie graduated from The Ohio State University with both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in accounting. She then worked in various accounting and virtual freelancing roles before diving head first into the world of investment adviser compliance when she joined Beach Street Legal. A former CPA and former Certified Fraud Examiner, Jackie knows the importance of being detail oriented. Her favorite thing about working with Beach Street Legal is helping clients achieve their goals while staying compliant each and every day. In her spare time, Jackie enjoys birdwatching, reading, and traveling. In 2020, she self-published the children’s picture book, A Lost Star Named Stella. Jackie lives in Columbus, Ohio, with her husband Brett, two kids (Natalie and JJ), and tortoiseshell cat, Daisy.

Caitlin M. Smith
Compliance Counsel

Caitlin received her B.A. in Political Science and Spanish at the University of Notre Dame and her J.D. from the University of San Diego. Caitlin started her legal career as a securities litigator before moving into her chosen field of compliance. She held a variety of in-house compliance roles before transitioning to a consultant, including CCO of a joint broker-dealer and SEC-registered investment adviser. Most recently, she was a Vice President at Credit Suisse, offering advisory compliance support to the fixed income division of its broker-dealer, covering securitized products and macro interest rate products. Caitlin previously passed her Series 3, 7, 24, and 63 exams, and also served as an elected firm representative on FINRA’s District 10 Committee (covering NYC) and as a FINRA Disciplinary Proceedings Hearing Panelist. She currently provides counsel and compliance support to a variety of investment advisers, specializing in SEC and NFA regulation.

Salli Maddox
Executive Assistant

Salli is a diligent administrative professional with experience working alongside top-level executives and individuals in several industries. Born and raised in mid-west Michigan, Salli graduated from Grand Valley State University with a bachelor’s degree in business administration. Her desire to never stop learning paired with her figure-it-out attitude and a knack for playing calendar tetris makes for a dynamic combination. Holding herself to high standards of trustworthiness with confidential information, she assists Beach Street Legal’s investment advisory and financial planning community with administrative, logistical, and compliance-related tasks. She also helps Chris stay on top of his schedule and email inbox, so don’t be surprised if she proactively jumps in to respond on his behalf.

Jadie Evans
Executive Assistant

Jadie is a dynamic and accomplished support professional with over 5 years of experience supporting C-level executives and entrepreneurs. Born and raised in Oklahoma, Jadie’s diverse background has enabled her to thrive in various industries throughout her career. As a former U.S. Air Force Intelligence Analyst, she brings a wealth of diverse administrative and operations expertise to the table. With a bachelor’s degree from American Military University, Jadie is currently on a journey towards completing her MBA, with graduation expected in 2024. Her professional achievements were highlighted when she received the Oklahoma’s NextGen Under 30 award in 2020, affirming her position as an emerging leader in the field. Jadie provides critical administrative, logistical, and compliance support to Beach Street Legal’s investment advisory and financial planning community.

Let’s Connect

We write articles occasionally

Want them in your inbox?

We also read emails

We can talk, too