Pursuant to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (“Dodd-Frank Act”), the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) must review the definition of “accredited investor” every four years to determine whether it needs to be modified or adjusted. The SEC staff recently conducted its first review and issued a…
Earlier this month, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) instituted an administrative proceeding against Blue Ocean Portfolios, LLC (“Blue Ocean”), an SEC-registered investment advisor with approximately $106 million in regulatory assets under management, and its Principal, CEO and Chief Compliance Officer, James A. Winkelmann, Sr. According to the allegations, Blue…
The Securities Exchange Commission (“SEC”) Office of Investor Education and Advocacy recently released an investor bulletin educating investors on investment performance claims in investment adviser advertising and pointing out specific things they should consider prior to investing. This bulletin and newsletter highlight the increasing emphasis regulators have been placing on…
The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) recently approved a proposed Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) rule change which will require associated persons responsible for the design, development, and significant modification of algorithmic trading strategies, or the supervision of such activities, to register as Securities Traders. This development highlights the increasing…
A compliance advisor working for City Securities Corporation (“City Securities”) has agreed to a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent (AWC) in a FINRA enforcement case alleging deficiencies in the way the advisor performed his compliance duties at the broker-dealer. John Walter Ruggles, who first became registered in 1993 and…
The Department of Labor (“DOL”) released the final version of its new fiduciary rule on Wednesday April 6, ending months of widespread speculation and apprehension in the financial services industry. The DOL appears to have heard the thousands of public comments asking for more clarification and simplification, particularly as related…
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) recently instituted a cybersecurity enforcement action against an online payment platform, Dwolla, Inc., in the form of a consent order. This consent order is significant because it is the first time the CFPB has sought to institute an enforcement action in the cybersecurity arena…
As the Department of Labor’s (“DOL’s”) proposed fiduciary rule awaits final adoption, market participants are starting to predict how it will affect retirement investment advice given that financial advisers such as broker-dealers, investment advisers, insurance companies, and other financial institutions, as well as their representatives, may soon be subjected to heightened…
Filing annual updating amendments to Form ADV is an important requirement for all registered investment advisers. All information contained in Parts 1 and 2 of Form ADV must be both accurate and complete. Unfortunately, this is not always the case, and the Securities Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and state regulators have…
A recent enforcement action settled in an administrative proceeding brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) underscores the importance for investment advisers to adopt and follow rules designed to prohibit inappropriate gifts to and from clients by investment adviser personnel. In a matter previously discussed on our blog, Guggenheim…