Inflation Reduction Act
Scaling Platforms Needed in Africa
Originally published in Project Finance International, March 10, 2021 Introduction Africa is often touted as the land of opportunity for private equity. However, private equity players looking to deploy capital in the market require scale in order to achieve the...
New SBA Guidance: Private Equity Eligibility, Debtors in Bankruptcy, and a Safe Harbor
Shortly after the passage of a bill injecting an additional $310 billion into the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program, the SBA has issued another supplemental Interim Final Rule (IFR) providing new guidance on several issues, including eligibility for hedge...
EU Data Privacy Law Countdown – Who's Ready?
On May 25, 2018, the European Union’s data privacy regime is getting an upgrade (the General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR) to improve individual protections. It will also, however, raise various new operations concerns. The organizations that plan ahead for...
OCIE Releases Risk Alert Regarding the Fees and Expenses that Investment Advisers Charge Clients
The Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently released a Risk Alert that highlights the most common compliance deficiencies relating to fees and expenses charged by SEC-registered investment advisers. 1 The Risk...
Application of Partnership Audit Rules to Private Funds
On November 2, 2015, President Obama signed into law the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015, which included a new federal audit regime for partnerships and entities classified as partnerships for federal income tax purposes (the New Rules). Under the New...
Who Is Watching The Watchmen?: CFTC Penalizes Registrant For Outsourced IT Security Lapses
On February 12, 2018, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) settled charges against AMP Global Clearing LLC (AMP), a futures commission merchant (FCM), for the company’s failure to adequately supervise one of its IT providers, which led to the unauthorized...
Recent Developments in the Private Funds Industry
1. SEC's OCIE Announces 2018 Examination Priorities 2. Tax Reform: Impact on Funds 3. New DOJ Approach to Remote Data Storage — Go Get It!
OCIE Releases Risk Alert Regarding Advertisements of Investment Advisers
On September 14, 2017, OCIE published a Risk Alert identifying issues associated with Rule 206(4)(1) of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (the “Advertising Rule”). 1 The Risk Alert was based on observations of the OCIE staff after over 1,000...
Can Foreign Partners Now Exit Partnerships Tax Free?
In Grecian Magnesite Mining v. Commissioner 1 (“ Grecian Magnesite ”) the Tax Court held that a non-U.S. partner's gain from the redemption of its partnership interest was neither U.S. source income nor income effectively connected with a U.S. trade...
President Trump Takes First Steps On Dodd-Frank Reform
Today, the Trump Administration took initial action toward Dodd-Frank reform. President Trump signed two Presidential actions—one Executive Order regarding the Dodd-Frank Act more broadly, and one Presidential Memorandum regarding the “Fiduciary Rule.” The first action is an Executive Order that...
SEC Releases 2017 Examination Priorities
On January 12, 2017, the SEC’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (“OCIE”) published its 2017 examination priorities. 1 OCIE’s 2017 priorities, which largely mirror its 2016 priorities, cover three areas: (1) protecting retail investors, (2) focusing on risks specific...
SEC's New Rule Requires Additional Disclosures on Form ADV
On August 25, 2016, the SEC adopted Release No. IA-4509 (the “New Rule” or the “amendments”) that amends Form ADV to increase the amount of information that registered investment advisors (“Advisors”) must disclose to the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”)...
Advisory Firms Fined for Disseminating Misleading Performance Claims Made by Another Firm
On August 25, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced fines against 13 investment advisory firms for distributing false claims originally made by F-Squared Investments. In a prior SEC enforcement case, F-Squared admitted that it substantially inflated the performance of...
Proposed Rule Relates to Investment Advisers' Business Continuity and Transition Plans
The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) recently proposed Rule 206(4)-4 1 under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (“Advisers Act”), which would require registered investment advisers (“firms” or “Advisors”) to adopt business continuity and transition plans. Further, in the Proposed...
SEC Issues Report on Increasing Use of Outsourced Chief Compliance Officers
In November 2015, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) released its Outsourced CCO Initiative Report . The report addressed the increased trend of outsourcing compliance activities to third-party consultants within the alternative investment and asset management industry. The SEC conducted...