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Financial Services & Investments

Asset Management ADVocate

The Asset Management ADVocate provides unique analysis and insight into legal developments affecting asset managers in the United States.

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June 6, 2019

SEC Adopts Package of Reforms Aimed at Raising the Standard of Conduct for Brokers and Clarifying an Investment Adviser’s Fiduciary Duty

On June 5, 2019, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") adopted a package of rules and interpretations relating to the standards of conduct for broker-dealers and investment advisers, including a new "best interest" rule for broker-dealers.

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April 16, 2019

SEC Fund-of-Fund Rule Proposal: Potentially Disruptive Impact of Redemption Limitation

As we touched upon briefly in our previous post on the SEC's recent Fund-of-Fund ("FOF") rule proposal, proposed Rule 12d1-4 incl

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January 22, 2019

SEC Brings First Enforcement Actions against Robo-Advisers

On December 21, 2018, the U.S.

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January 11, 2019

SEC Proposes Potentially Broadening and Disruptive New Fund-of-Funds Framework

On December 19, 2018, the SEC released a set of rule proposals (the "Proposals") intended to streamline the regulatory framework for fund-of-funds ("FOF") arrangements under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the "1940 Act").

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November 14, 2018

OCIE Announces Risk-Based Exam Initiatives for Mutual Funds—Part 2

My first post discussed the SEC's Office of Compliance Inspections and Examination's ("OCIE's") recent Risk Alert (the

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November 13, 2018

2018 Recap: Tokens, Coins, Cryptocurrencies, and Other Digital Assets under the Federal Securities Laws

This post continues my recap of where things stand regarding the treatment of tokens, coins, cryptocurrencies, and other digital assets under the federal securities laws.

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November 13, 2018

OCIE Announces Risk-Based Exam Initiatives for Mutual Funds—Part 1

Recently, the Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations ("OCIE") issued a Risk Alert (the "Alert") identifying six categories of mutual funds and mutual fund advisers it plans to examine: (i) index funds tracking custom-built indexes; (ii) smaller and thinly-tr

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November 12, 2018

2017 Recap: Tokens, Coins, Cryptocurrencies, and Other Digital Assets under the Federal Securities Laws - Facts and Circumstances

The Securities and Exchange Commission's ("SEC") recent action against a digital trading platform illustrates the continued uncertainty surrounding the treatment of tokens, coins, cryptocurrencies, and other digital assets und

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November 9, 2018

EtherDelta Founder Sanctioned for Operating an Unregistered Securities Exchange

On November 8, the SEC announced an enforcement action charging the founder of a digital "token" trading platform for operating as an unregistered national securities exchange.

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November 5, 2018

SEC Staff Warns About Cash Solicitation Rule Compliance

Periodically, SEC staff issue alerts describing deficiencies observed during exams, as a tool to help advisers improve their compliance programs.

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September 18, 2018

ETF Proposed Rule: Portfolio Holding Transparency

The following post gives an overview of the portfolio holding disclosure requirements contained in proposed Rule 6c-11 ("ETF Rule").

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August 23, 2018

Why Blockchain Custody Is So Difficult—Paths Forward?

In the first post on this topic, we provided a simple answer to a question posed by the Director of the

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August 20, 2018

Why Blockchain Custody Is So Difficult—A Hard Part

In our previous post, we provided a simple answer to the following question posed by Director Dalia Blass of the SEC's Divisi

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August 16, 2018

PROPOSED ETF RULE: AN OVERVIEW

On June 28, 2018, the U.S.

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August 16, 2018

Why Blockchain Custody Is So Difficult—The Simple Part

"There are no easy answers, but there are simple answers."—President Reagan In a January 2018 letter to the ICI and SIFMA, Director Dalia Blass of the SEC's Division of Investment Management posed the following question, among many others:

To the exten