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In September 2017, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority updated a previously published Notice related to FINRA Rules 12805 and 13805, which “establish procedures that arbitrators must follow before recommending expungement of customer dispute information related to arbitration cases from a broker’s Central Registration Depository (CRD®) record.”  When details are expunged from the CRD system, those details are permanently deleted and cannot be accessed by members of the general public, regulators, or potential broker-dealer employers.  As a result, FINRA regards expungement as an extreme remedy that should only be exercised in circumstances in which one of the three “narrow grounds specified in Rule 2080” are met.  These three grounds are a finding that the claim, allegation or information is factually unfeasible or obviously erroneous, a finding that a registered person did not participate in the alleged investment-related misconduct, or a finding that the claim, allegation, or information is untrue.

The updates to the Notice added instructions regarding expungement requests before an underlying arbitration case has concluded.  According to FINRA, a broker is not permitted to file an expungement request pertaining to customer dispute information until after the underlying customer arbitration involving the information has concluded.  Likewise, a broker is forbidden from filing an expungement request in a distinct, expungement-only case before an underlying customer arbitration ends.  The updates to the Notice also provide that FINRA allows the Director of the Office of Dispute Resolutions to deny use of the FINRA arbitration forum if the Director concludes that the subject matter of the dispute is unsuitable, or that consenting to hear the matter would create a risk to the health and safety of the parties and arbitrators.  The updates conclude by saying that the Director has decided to not allow requests for expungement to be heard before the underlying customer arbitrations conclude in order to keep results consistent and to ensure efficiency. Continue reading ›

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Parker MacIntyre has recently published a whitepaper entitled Forming a Hedge Fund or other Private Investment Fund: A Top 10 List for the Entrepreneurial Fund Manager.  If you are a money management or other financial services professional currently giving some serious thought to setting-out on your own as an entrepreneurial private investment fund manager, this publication is the right place to start.  In it you will find a roadmap for entrepreneurial fund managers which aims to identify and discuss the top 10 areas of attention/concern relevant to a fund launch.  Our whitepaper address such areas as:

  • Basic structure and formation considerations for managers, including compensation.
  • Service providers and partners needed for a successful start-up fund.
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The Department of Labor (DOL) recently published its proposal to extend the transition period of the Fiduciary Rule and delay the second phase of implementation from January 1, 2018 to July 1, 2019. Currently only adherence to the impartial conduct standards is required for compliance with the Best Interest Contract (BIC) exemption during the transition period, as well as for certain other prohibited transaction exemptions issued or revised in connection with the Fiduciary Rule. Compliance with the full provisions of the BIC exemption and the other related exemptions is not required until the second phase of implementation of the Fiduciary Rule, which is currently set for January 1, 2018.

If adopted, the same requirements in effect now for compliance with the BIC exemption and related exemptions would remain in effect for the duration of the extended transition period. The DOL stated that the primary purpose for seeking to extend the transition period was to allow the DOL sufficient time to review the substantial commentary it has received and consider possible changes or alternatives to the Fiduciary Rule exemptions. The DOL noted its concern that without a delay in the applicability date, financial institutions would incur expenses attempting to comply with certain conditions or requirements of the newly issued or revised exemptions that are ultimately revised or repealed.

The DOL stated that it anticipates it will propose in the near future a “new and more streamlined class exemption built in large part on recent innovations in the financial services industry.” These recent innovations include the development of “clean shares” of mutual funds by some broker-dealers, which the DOL discussed approvingly in its first set of transition period FAQ guidance. “Clean shares” would not include any form of distribution-related payment to the broker, but would instead have uniform commission levels across different mutual funds that would be set by the financial institution. In this way, the firm could mitigate conflicts of interest by substantially insulating advisers from the incentive to recommend certain mutual funds over others. However, these types of innovations will take time to develop.

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On August 14, 2017, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) issued an Order Instituting Administrative and Cease and Desist Proceedings (“Order”) against Coachman Energy Partners, LLC (“Coachman”), an investment adviser, and its owner, Randall D. Kenworthy (“Kenworthy”).  According to the SEC’s Order, Coachman “failed to adequately disclose its methodology for calculating the management fees and management-related expenses it charged” to four oil and gas funds it managed.  Coachman and Kenworthy submitted offers of settlement in conjunction with the Order.

The SEC found that from 2011 to 2014, Coachman acted as investment adviser to four funds specializing in oil and gas operations.  Each fund was charged an annual management fee which made up 2 to 2.5% of the total capital contributions given to each fund as of the last day of the year.  According to the SEC, however, Coachman’s offering materials and Forms ADV did not adequately disclose that the management fees were based upon year-end contributions.  Rather, these documents implied that management fees and expenses were based upon “the average amount of capital contributions under management during the course of the year.”  Therefore, the SEC alleged that Coachman and Kenworthy overbilled investors in the amount of $1,128,916.

The SEC also alleged that between 2013 and 2014, Coachman billed two of the funds management expenses based upon 1.5% of the total capital contributions given to these funds as of the last day of the year.  However, the offering materials for these funds allegedly did not sufficiently inform investors that the funds would be obligated to pay Coachman for management expenses based on year-end capital contributions.  Rather, these materials supposedly informed investors that management expenses were calculated using the average number of capital contributions under management for the whole year.  The SEC alleges that this resulted in Coachman and Kenworthy overbilled clients in the amount of $449,294.

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On August 23, 2017, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the District of Colorado against Sonya D. Camarco (“Camarco”), an investment adviser.  The complaint alleges that Camarco “misappropriated over $2.8 million in investor funds from her clients and customers.”  The complaint also alleges that Camarco used these funds to pay a variety of personal expenses, including credit card bills and mortgages.

As stated in the SEC’s complaint, Camarco was a registered representative and investment adviser representative of LPL Financial LLC (“LPL”) from February 2004 through August 2017.  Under LPL’s policies, Camarco was not allowed to take money from client accounts unless the clients given her “specific and express” authority to do so.  However, the SEC’s complaint alleges that in July 2017, LPL realized that Camarco had been part of numerous suspicious transactions involving her clients’ accounts from 2004 through 2017. Continue reading ›

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On August 22, 2017, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the Central District of California against Jeremy Drake (“Drake”), an investment adviser.  The complaint alleges that Drake lied to two clients, a high-profile professional athlete and his wife, regarding their annual management fees.  The complaint also alleges that Drake used extensive measures to back up his deception, including sending “false and misleading emails” and “a number of fabricated documents.”

According to the SEC’s complaint, Drake’s alleged misconduct occurred when he was an investment adviser representative of HCR Wealth Advisers (“HCR”), a Los Angeles-based registered investment adviser.  In September 2009, the clients entered into an “Investment Advisory Agreement” with HCR.  The agreement, which was signed by Drake on behalf of HCR, provided that the clients would pay an annual management fee of 1% of the clients’ assets under management.  Evidence shows that the clients paid a 1% management fee for the entire period when they were clients of HCR. Continue reading ›

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The Georgia Securities Commissioner’s office recently held a fairness hearing pursuant to a request by two merging local banks seeking to facilitate their merger by forgoing the need to register newly issued securities at both the state and federal levels. The hearing, which is Georgia’s second in the last four years, was held on July 26, 2017. A copy of the Commissioner’s Order of Approval is available on the Georgia Secretary of State’s web site.

The fairness hearing process is a unique statutorily-codified transactional registration exemption which exists in a number of states—mostly those states having enacted some form of the model Uniform Securities Act of 2002. While not widely used historically, the fairness hearing process generally provides an exemption from registering securities at the state level for certain mergers and acquisitions (“M&A”) transactions where the state securities regulator passes on the “fairness” of the terms of the merger after conducting an evidentiary administrative hearing. What makes the fairness hearing process especially appealing is that the federal Securities Act of 1933 contains a sister provision at Section 3(a)(10), which provides a federal registration exemption for securities issued in certain M&A transactions where “the terms and conditions of such issuance and exchange are approved, after a hearing upon the fairness of such terms and conditions” by any state or federal governmental authority “expressly authorized by law to grant such approval.” This effectively means that a successful fairness proceeding conducted at the state level not only entitles the applicant to a state “Blue-Sky” registration exemption—but also a federal registration exemption as well.

In Georgia, the fairness hearing exemption is codified at Section 10-5-11(9) of the Georgia Uniform Securities Act of 2008, which exempts M&A transactions where the “fairness of the terms and conditions have been approved by the Commissioner after a hearing.” The Georgia Securities Commissioner’s office has promulgated administrative rules setting forth the roadmap for making an application pursuant to Section 10-5-11(9) as well as the conduct of the actual hearing. These rules, which were implemented in mid-2014, require, among other things, that the transaction have a significant nexus to the state of Georgia (residency of securities holders, place of business of the applicants, etc.), that the applicants submit a detailed application package containing specific transaction documentation, and that the applicants pay a filing fee and a processing fee and undertake to reimburse the Commissioner’s office for its out-of-pocket costs.

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On August 2, 2017, a federal court in Connecticut ordered Steven Hicks (“Hicks”), a hedge fund manager, and his hedge fund advisory firms to pay almost $13 million.  This payment includes disgorgement and a penalty.  In 2010, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) filed a complaint against Hicks and his two hedge fund advisers, Southridge Capital Management LLC (“Southridge Capital”) and Southridge Advisors, LLC (“Southridge Advisors”).  The complaint alleged that Hicks, Southridge Capital, and Southridge Advisors committed fraud by placing investor money in illiquid securities when investors were told that “at least 75% of their money would be invested in unrestricted, free-trading shares.”

According to the SEC’s complaint, starting in 2003, Hicks started soliciting investors.  He told them that 75% of any money they invested in two funds he was starting would be invested in unrestricted, free-trading shares.  Free-trading shares are shares that are eligible to be sold.  Evidence shows that some potential investors were also told that the funds would invest “in short-term transactions that would take only 10 or 15 days, such as equity line of credit (‘ELC’) deals.”  Continue reading ›

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The Department of Labor (DOL) recently indicated in a court filing that it has submitted a proposed rule to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to extend the transition period of the Fiduciary Rule and delay the second phase of implementation from January 1, 2018 to July 1, 2019. This proposal is currently under review by the OMB.

The DOL also recently released a new set of FAQ guidance regarding compliance with the Fiduciary Rule during the transition period when providing advice to IRAs, plans covered by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), and other plans covered by section 4975 of the Internal Revenue Code (Code). Most of the questions dealt specifically with the prohibited transaction exemption under ERISA section 408(b)(2) for service providers to ERISA plans. Continue reading ›

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Beginning October 1, 2017, registered investment advisers are required to use revised form ADV, which requests certain information not sought on previous versions of the form. Advisers will also have to comply with amendments to Rule 204-2 under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (“Advisers Act”).  With the compliance date less than three months away, advisers should examine whether to modify their internal policies and procedures pertaining to Form ADV reporting and recordkeeping, and also should begin the process of collecting the new information and assuring that the information remains available for future Form ADV filings.

The amendments to Form ADV changed the requirements of Item 5 of Part 1A of Form ADV and Section 5 of Schedule D.  The amendments will obligate investment advisers to disclose the estimated percentage of regulatory assets under management (“RAUM”) held in separately managed accounts (“SMAs”) and to indicate those assets “that are invested in twelve broad asset categories.”  Investment advisers with $10 billion or more in RAUM connected to SMAs will be obligated to report both mid-year and end-of-year percentages for each category.  Investment advisers with fewer than $10 billion in RAUM connected to SMAs will only be obligated to report only end-of-year percentages.  The amendments to Form ADV will also require investment advisers to disclose the identity of custodians that make up 10 percent or more of an investment adviser’s total SMA RAUM. Continue reading ›

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