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On June 25, the five regulators responsible for Section 13 of the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 (Volcker Rule) approved a set of amendments that modify and clarify the covered fund provisions of the regulations implementing the Volcker Rule. (The five regulators are the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and the Securities and Exchange Commission.) The final amendments are generally the same as those proposed in January of this year.
Continue Reading Volcker Rule Regulators Make Changes to Covered Fund Rules

Katten is continuing our weekly, 15-minute fireside chat series featuring London partners Carolyn Jackson, Nathaniel Lalone and Neil Robson. Next week’s discussion will focus on the UK’s brand-new insolvency rules, which will be of particular interest to investment firms and proprietary traders. Please join us on Tuesday, May 19 at 1:00 p.m. Eastern…

On March 18, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) issued a Customer Advisory warning the public to watch for fraudulent schemes attempting to profit from recent market volatility stemming from the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic. The CFTC identified common fraud tactics often used during major news events (such as the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic), including the following:
Continue Reading CFTC Issues Customer Advisory Regarding COVID-19 Related Fraud

On January 27, the Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) of the Securities and Exchange Commission issued a statement summarizing its observations of cybersecurity and operational resiliency practices of broker-dealers, investment advisers, clearing agencies, national securities exchanges and other SEC registrants (the Observations). In its introduction to the Observations, the OCIE staff notes that cybersecurity is a key priority for OCIE. Therefore, although the OCIE staff acknowledges that there is not a “one-size fits all” approach to addressing cybersecurity, it recommends that SEC registrants assess their cybersecurity practices in light of the Observations.
Continue Reading OCIE Provides Observations on Cybersecurity and Operational Resiliency Best Practices

On November 4, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced that it voted to propose amendments to modernize the rules under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (Advisers Act) addressing investment adviser advertisements and payments to solicitors. According to the SEC, the “proposed amendments to the advertising rule (Rule 206(4)-1 under the Advisers Act) would replace the current rule’s broadly drawn limitations with principles-based provisions,” and would permit the use of testimonials, endorsements and third-party ratings, subject to certain conditions. The proposed rule also would include tailored requirements for the presentation of performance results based on an advertisement’s intended audience.
Continue Reading SEC Proposes Changes to the Advertising and Cash Solicitation Rules for Investment Advisers

On July 11, the Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) of the Securities and Exchange Commission issued a Risk Alert to provide investment advisers and other market participants with information concerning many of the most common deficiencies that OCIE staff has found in recent examinations of investment advisers’ compliance with their best execution obligations under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (the “Advisers Act”). The Advisers Act best execution obligation requires an investment adviser to execute securities transactions for clients in such a manner that the client’s total costs, or proceeds in each transaction, are the most favorable under the circumstances taking into consideration the full range and quality of a broker-dealer’s services including, among other things, the value of research provided as well as execution capability, commission rate, financial responsibility, and responsiveness to the investment adviser. Furthermore, an investment adviser should periodically evaluate the execution quality of broker-dealers executing their clients’ transactions.
Continue Reading OCIE Issues Risk Alert on Compliance Issues Related to Best Execution by Investment Advisers

On June 5, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Investment Management staff (Staff) updated its “Staff Responses to Questions About the Custody Rule” (Custody Rule FAQs). The Custody Rule FAQs address questions regarding Rule 206(4)-2 of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, the “Custody Rule.” The update to the Custody Rule FAQs specifically addressed concerns regarding the Staff’s February 2017 Guidance Update titled: “Inadvertent Custody: Advisory Contract Versus Custodial Contract Authority” (Guidance Update). The Guidance Update indicated that investment advisers may inadvertently have custody (Inadvertent Custody) of client assets due to provisions in a separate custodial agreement entered into between its advisory client and a qualified custodian that allow the investment adviser to instruct the custodian to disburse, or transfer, client funds or securities.
Continue Reading SEC Releases Updates to Custody Rule Frequently Asked Questions

On June 1, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced settlements with 13 registered investment advisers who repeatedly failed to annually file or update reports on Form PF. Form PF is a confidential reporting form required for private fund investment advisers managing $150 million or more of assets. The SEC began requiring that applicable registered investment advisers file an annual Form PF in 2012 under Rule 204(b)-1 of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. Form PF requests, among other things, information about private funds’: asset values, investment strategies, performance, and use of borrowed money and derivatives. The SEC uses Form PF data to monitor industry trends, inform rulemaking, identify compliance risks, and target examinations and enforcement investigations. The SEC also shares Form PF data with the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC), which assists FSOC in evaluating systemic risks potentially caused by hedge funds and other private funds.
Continue Reading SEC Charges 13 Private Fund Advisers for Repeated Form PF Filing Failures

On November 6, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) released Notice to Members 17-37, which provides information about the Pay-to-Play rule applicable to capital acquisition brokers (CABs). The SEC’s pay-to-play rules prohibit an investment adviser and its covered associates from providing or agreeing to provide payment to any person to solicit a government entity…