SEC Charges Investment Adviser and His 90-Year-Old Father with Breaching Fiduciary Duty After Taking Advantage of Elderly Client WHAT HAPPENED? On July 19, 2019, the US Securities and Exchange Commission charged a registered investment adviser, Account Management LLC, with breaching their fiduciary duty to their largest client, a 92-year-old [...]
Alaska Investment Adviser Ordered to Pay Over $400K in SEC Settlement WHAT HAPPENED? On July 24, 2019, the US Securities and Exchange Commission released a settlement with an Alaska investment adviser, which was penalized for its failure to properly disclose compensation conflicts to clients. Foundations Assets Management (FAM) and [...]
OCIE Releases Findings After Examining Firms Employing Persons with Disciplinary Histories WHAT HAPPENED? On July 23, 2019, the Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) released a Risk Alert which outlines the findings of examinations of over 50 advisers in 2017. All the examined advisers were selected based on [...]
How are Advisers Selected for an OCIE Exam? WHAT HAPPENED? In Fiscal Year 2018, the Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations of the Securities and Exchange Commission examined nearly 17% of SEC-registered investment advisers. For the past several years, the number of examinations performed annually has steadily increased and [...]
SEC Accepts Public Comment on Private Securities Offering Exemptions WHAT HAPPENED? Last month, the Securities and Exchange Commission released a request for public comment on how to improve the current exempt offering structure. Through this process, the Commission is seeking to broaden opportunities for investment while continuing to protect [...]
Regulation Best Interest: What You Should Know WHAT HAPPENED? On June 5, 2019, the Securities and Exchange Commission adopted Regulation Best Interest (BI) which is intended to raise the standard of conduct for broker-dealers working with retail customers. The regulation had been under consideration since April 2018 and was [...]
Investment Adviser Overcharges Clients by $367,000, Charged with Fraud WHAT HAPPENED? On May 28, 2019, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged an investment adviser with overcharging clients by at least $367,000. In 2015 and 2016, Stephen Brandon Anderson, owner and operator of River Source Wealth Management, charged a majority [...]
Use of "May" in Form ADV Deemed Negligent by D.C. Circuit Court WHAT HAPPENED? In April, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals in Robare Group, Ltd. v. United States Securities and Exchange Commission ruled against Robare, a registered investment adviser, for failing to properly disclose a fee arrangement with [...]
SEC Adopts Rules and Interpretations Including Form CRS and Regulation Best Interest WHAT HAPPENED? On June 5, 2019, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced the adoption of a package of rules and interpretations intended to increase transparency for retail investors in their relationships with investment advisers and broker-dealers. The [...]
OCIE Warns of Cloud-Based Server Security Risks WHAT HAPPENED? Last week, the Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) discovered several security risks related to the storage of customer information by broker-dealers and advisers, particularly related to the use of cloud-based servers. The primary risk was found to stem from firms [...]