On October 11, 2017, the Iowa Insurance Division announced that it has adopted amendments to the Iowa Administrative Code, adding notice filing requirements for federal crowdfunding offerings and updates to the notice filing requirements for Regulation A, Tier 2 offerings. In addition, the amendments adopt two policy statements published by…
Earlier this year, the Kansas Court of Appeals affirmed a district court decision holding that Mark R. Schneider (“Schneider”), an investment adviser representative and broker-dealer, violated the Kansas Uniform Securities Act by recommending nontraditional exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”) to a client whose investment objective was to produce income. Schneider was ordered…
In August of this year, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) issued an Order Instituting Cease-and-Desist Proceedings (“Order”) against Capital Dynamics, Inc. (“CDI”), a New York-based investment adviser. The SEC alleged that from March 2011 to July 2015, CDI allocated certain expenses to private funds it was advising when the…
On October 24, 2017, Morgan Stanley declared that it has decided to withdraw from the Protocol for Broker Recruiting (“Protocol”). Morgan Stanley stated that the Protocol is “replete with opportunities for gamesmanship and loopholes” and that the Protocol is “no longer sustainable.” It believes that leaving the Protocol will be…
Earlier this year, Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Jay Clayton appointed Stephanie Avakian and Steven Peikin as co-directors of the SEC’s Enforcement Division. In an interview with Reuters, Avakian and Peikin expressed particular concern about cyber threats and how the SEC should make cybersecurity an enforcement priority. According to Peikin,…
On October 2, 2017, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the Central District of California against Tweed Financial Services, Inc. (“TFSI”), an investment advisory firm, and its proprietor, Robert Russel Tweed (“Tweed”). The SEC’s complaint alleges that TFSI and Tweed “defrauded…
If you build it, will they come? In the movie Field of Dreams, Kevin Costner’s character Ray Kinsella was promised by a mysterious Voice that if he built a baseball field in the middle of an Iowa cornfield, “they”- ghost baseball players which ultimately included his deceased father – would…
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…
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…
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…