CIPPERMAN & COMPANY
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Transcript CIPPERMAN & COMPANY
Regulatory Update 2010
- Post-Madoff Enforcement
- Dodd-Frank & the New Regulators
- Compliance 2.0
Todd Cipperman, Esq.
December 1, 2010
Nothing herein should be construed as legal advice.
This presentation may constitute an advertisement under U.S. law.
Cipperman Compliance Services is not a law firm and does not render legal advice.
Dodd-Frank
The Players
– RIA registration and supervision
– Registration of municipal advisers and solicitors
The Markets
– Derivatives
– Short-sale reporting and regulation
– Money market funds
The Process
– Proxy vote reporting
– Shareholder nominations
Distribution
– Accredited investor defn
Enforcement and Litigation
– Whistleblowers
– Private rights of action
The Players
New Registrants
Private fund sponsors (>$150 Million)
– Private Equity firms
• Venture Capital exemption limited
• Based on committed capital
• Market valuations
– Hedge Fund sponsors
– “ADV lite” for VC and small fund advisers
Multi-family offices
SRO for Advisers?
Remove BD exemption from Advisers Act?
State vs. Federal regulation
Private Funds: Infrastructure
Valuation
– Overvaluing illiquid securities in side pockets (SEC v. Mannion et. al.)
• Internal valuations were lower
• Methodology differed from PPM
– BDC investments overvalued (SEC v. Brantley Capital)
• Impacted fee calculation
• Affected financials, Board reports, SEC filings
– Over-paying for MBS to maintain values (SEC v. ICP Asset Mgt)
Long and short in same securities (In re Carlson Capital)
– Rule 105: access to information
LP has right to list of other LPs (Parkcentral v. Brown)
– LPA could have prohibited
Processing clerk made unauthorized trades (SEC v. Kass)
Private Funds: Conflicts of Interest
Cherry-picking for personal account (In re Dawson)
– Irrelevant that Manager reimbursed fund or that clients didn’t
express concern
Undisclosed payments to key BDC employee (In re Douglas
and Moore)
Collusion between PE fund manager and underlying
companies to ensure committed capital (SEC v. Onyx Capital)
– Money funneled back to manager
– Fraudulent statements to pension plan investors
Hedge fund manager created fake administrator and auditor
(SEC v. Finvest)
– Delivered performance information and financials
The Markets
Insider trading
Galleon
Dozens of cases against hedge fund
managers
Mutual fund manager tipped family members
to sell his fund (In re Baldt)
– Muni market declining
– Knew about redemptions
Fund exec sold fund shares after learning
about re-pricing (SEC v. Marquardt)
Derivatives
Proposed anti-fraud rule for swaps
Swaps reporting to SDRs
Alternative uptick rule for shorts
Funds must review derivatives disclosure
CorpFin letter re: repos and securities lending
– More MD&A disclosure
Leveraged ETFs
– IM Staff won’t approve ETFs that use derivatives
The Process
Boards
Can’t delegate review of affiliated transactions under
17e-1, 17a-7, 10f-3 (IDC Letter)
– CCO is a service provider, not a substitute
12b-1 proposal
Jones v. Harris and its progeny
– Review of mutual fund fees
New rule for money market funds
Evaluate 12b-1 fees based on whether services were
reasonable in relation to fees (In re American Mutual
Funds)
– Board process
Compliance Programs
Failing to follow your own procedures (In re Buckingham)
– Wall between BD research for nonpublic info
– Creating records upon SEC exam request
Template compliance manual (In re Sierra Financial)
– P/P not tailored to business
– No annual review
– Investing in controlled entities
BD CCOs
– failing to stop use of personal e-mail account used in stock manipulation
scheme (In re Campanella)
• Recklessness = intent
– Failing to supervise re variable annuity recs (In re Prime Capital)
• Authority to impose discipline
– Failure to supervise brokers who churned (Westpark Capital)
SEC to leverage compliance pros (Schapiro speech)
– Duty to investors
– CCO’s job to ensure compliance with securities laws
Operations
Ignoring back-office ops (In re Busacca)
– Cutting corners and costs
– BD Pres focusing on sales, not ops
Books and Records
– Storage facility destroyed records for nonpayment of fees
(SEC v. Envision)
Status questions
– Function, not title triggers licensing reqs (JP Morgan
Securities)
• Investment banker that supervised municipal dealer
– 28(e) research provider is not investment adviser (BNY
ConvergEx)
Custody
IM Staff interps
– Same audit firm permissible for surprise exams
– May use same independent rep for all LPs
Guidance for surprise exams
– Confirm assets with clients
– SEC notification and filing
Compliance guidance
– Background checks
– Two persons to move assets
– Segregate custody duties
– Reconcile account and custody statements
Audit firm liable for negligent surprise exam (In re Altschuler)
– Ignored commingling
– Gave notice of exam
– 1.5 billable hours
Action against private fund manager (In re Sands Brothers Asset Mgt)
– Auditor disclaimer
– Failure to deliver financials
– Incorrect ADV
Shareholders and Proxies
Proxy process and reporting
– Form N-PX for executive compensation matters for 13F filers
(Proposal)
– Oversight of proxy advisory firms (Schapiro speech)
– SEC Concept Release: proxy plumbing
• Access to intermediary data
• NOBO/OBO system
• Use of technology
Shareholder Proposals
– Closed-end fund must include proposal to convert to interval fund
(Swiss Helvetia Fund)
• Board had already considered and rejected
– Fund must include proposal to fire adviser that overvalues ARS
(Boulder Growth and Income)
– Shareholder-nominated directors (Rule)
• 3% for 3 years
• 1 director or 25% of Board
Distribution
Disclosure: Point-of-Sale
Product Disclosure
– Include brokerage costs in fund expense ratio (FASB proposal)
– IFRS
– Failure to disclose that counterparty influenced collateral pool (SEC
v. Goldman Sachs)
– Changing investment objectives without shareholder approval under
13(a) (In re Charles Schwab)
• Is “MBS” an industry classification?
– Misreps about RMBS delinquency data (Deutsche Bank Securities)
• FINRA action against underwriter
Adviser Disclosure
– New ADV
• Personnel supplement
• Financial disclosure
• Publicly available
– Point-of-sale disclosure for BDs
– IAR information available online
Disclosure: Ongoing
Summary annual reports (Donohue speech)
MD&A disclosure about short-term borrowing
Short sale reporting for 13F reporters
13F information not protected by 5th Amendment’s
“Takings” clause (In re Wynnefield)
Reg FD violation for selective disclosure to private
fund manager (SEC v. Presstek)
– Earnings info during blackout
Marketing: Product-specific
SEC regulation
– Target Date funds proposal
• No suitability statements
– Suitability (SEC v. Life Wealth Management)
– Best practices report for working with Seniors
Fund marketing
– Marketing multi-strat fund/funds as conservative and
liquid (In re Greenberg)
• Concentration in two underlying funds
• Suitability
• See also In re S4 Capital: using unhedged options in “absolute
return” fund
– Misreps in fund fact sheets for enhanced cash fund that
invested in subprime (In re Flannery and Hopkins)
• CIO and Product Manager charged
Marketing: Sales Misreps
Failure to disclose that wrap program was more
costly than brokerage account (SEC v. Sage)
– Moving clients to new RIA firm from BD
– Misrep that clients couldn’t stay with underlying manager
Failure to disclose additional commission comp for
switching classes (In re Valentine)
– Investment rationale not relevant
– Prospectus disclosure not enough
Options trader barred for claiming competence (In
re Jafari)
– Average loss of 52%
Solicitors
Public Plans
– Pay-to-play rule for public plans
• May only pay registered BDs and federal RIAs
• Limits on political contributions
– FINRA sweep
– State laws
• CA requires solicitors to register as lobbyists
– No contingent compensation for public plans
– PE Firm and Exec to pay $13.2 Million in fines for undisclosed
comp to public plan solicitor (SEC v. Quadrangle; SEC v. Rattner)
• “Chooch”
• Section 17(a)(2)
• What about 206(4)-3?
Cap Intro
– Law firms
• A “salesman’s stake” (Brumberg, Mackey & Wall)
– Law firm sought no-action relief
– Cf. Manatt, Phelps & Phillips: no contingent compensation
– BD registration (Donohue speech)
Broker-Dealers
Sales Practices
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Segregation of BD and RIA activities (Ketchum)
Suitability: leveraged ETFs, ARS, UITs, closed-end funds
Due diligence of private placements (Reg Notice 10-22)
Obligation to verify QIB reps (In re Merrill Lynch)
Obligation to deliver due diligence info (In re Securities America)
Implied reps and the “shingle theory" (Capital Management v. Bennett)
Disclosure
– More disclosure in U4s and U5s
• Termination details
• Broker awarded $5 Million for defamatory U5 (Beck v. SunTrust)
– Politics not sales practices
– FINRA considering broker-dealer ADV
– More information required in BD applications (Reg Notice 10-01)
Broker-Dealers con’t
Operations and Infrastructure
– Liquidity risk management (Reg. Notice 10-57)
• No excuses for loss of funding
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Licensing of Ops personnel (Proposal)
E-Mail retention (Piper Jaffray)
Expansion of TRACE
Protection of customer information from hacker (D.A. Davidson)
Insufficient resources devoted to AML (Penson and Pinnacle)
Social Networking (NtM 10-06)
Market participation
– Naked access
• Inadequate customer ID (In re Pinnacle)
– CDS market manipulation (Phoenix Derivatives)
– Best execution should include multiple venues (Ketchum)
Litigation
And
Enforcement
Enforcement Power
New Whistleblower rule
– 30%, $1 Million
– Not required to use company procedure
– Employment law implications
SEC Argues that SOX protects third-party whistleblowers (Klopfenstein v.
DoL)
$1 Million bounty awarded to insider trading informant (SEC v. Pequot)
– Ex-wife of tipper who misled SEC
Asset Management Unit
– Specific initiatives (Bond Fund, Problem Adviser, Mutual Fund Fees)
Virginia Financial and Securities Fraud Task Force
– Ability to bring criminal charges
Enforcement will offer cooperation agreements
Increased enforcement activity (2009)
– 496 vs. 233 investigations
– $2.09 BN v. $774 MM in disgorgements
– $345 MM vs. $256 MM penalties
Private Rights of Action
Extending “conduct and effects” test to non-
US transactions
Must show stock price movement for “fraudon-the-market” theory in class action (Berks
County ERF v. First American (SDNY))
No private right of action under Section
13(a) (Northstar v. Schwab (9th Cir))
Who’s liable? (aka Madoff con’t)
Liable
– Adviser that suspected Madoff fraud (Cuomo v. Ivy Asset
Management (NYS))
– Custodian for Madoff feeders (Pitkin v. Westport National
Bank (CT))
– RIA for failing to conduct proper due diligence of Ponzi
scheme (In re Yosemite)
– Fund manager for blindly relying on performance
information provided by sub-adviser (SEC v. Moody)
– Fund accounting head for allowing PM price overrides (In
re Morgan Asset Mgt et al)
– SEC/DoJ argue that advisers liable for fund prospectuses
(Janus v. First Derivative Traders)
• Civil and criminal penalties
Who’s liable? (aka Madoff con’t)
Not Liable
– Auditor of Madoff feeder (CRT v. BDO Seidman (NYS))
– Auditor or any other service provider with interest in the
offering (Malack v. BDO Seidman (3rd Cir))
• No “fraud created the market” theory
– Law firm in securities offering (PIMCO v. Mayer Brown
(2nd Cir))
• May only apply to private rights of action
– Lender to ponzi scheme not liable to Receiver (Marion v.
TDI)
– BD GC for failure to supervise (In re Urban)
• Not a supervising principal
• Reported issues
Jurisdictional Battles: FINRA and NASAA
SEC v. FINRA
– Ketchum Wants SRO for RIAs; SEC launches study to determine if
it should eliminate broker exemption from Advisers Act
– FINRA assumes enforcement for NYSE
SEC v. NASAA
– SEC action against adviser had <$25 Million AUM (In re FreedomTree)
– SEC suit against state-registered adviser for PPM fraud uncovered by
FINRA (SEC v. Vallett)
– State regulatory standards
• SEC standard
• NASAA resource
– 1940 Act trumps MD takeover statute (Boulder Total Return Fund)
– DF moves mid-sized advisers ($25-$100 AUM) to states
• Must have examination program
• >4000 advisers
• New quasi-SRO?
– Deference to arbitration awards (Wiederhorn v. Merkin (NYS))
• Large award for investors in Madoff feeder
Jurisdictional Battles: FDIC and DoL
SEC v. FDIC
– Collective funds
• Funds did not disclose subprime investments and leverage (In re State
Street)
– SEC fraud case
• Donohue questions rationale for 1940 Act exemption
SEC v. DoL
– New disclosure about plan and investment options
• More transparency
– Expanded definition of “Fiduciary”
• More than just providing “regular advice”
• RIAs
– DoL sues Madoff feeders (Solis v. Beacon et. al.)
• Feeder managers were fiduciaries
• Jurisdictional issues
Final Thoughts
Dodd-Frank changes everything
Nothing left unregulated
Private funds business will segment
Zero tolerance for insider trading
Derivatives less available
Need for professional compliance and ops
More transparency in disclosure, sales and marketing
More (costly) enforcement actions
Jurisdictional battles = more regulators
Cipperman & Company is a unique law firm devoted exclusively to the investment
management industry. Our lawyers have spent their careers in the investment
management industry, including significant experience at major industry players. Our
shared heritage and experience make our lawyers unique and creative industry partners
who can give you practical, real-world advice for making informed business decisions
and controlling your legal risk. We have worked on a wide range of transactional and
regulatory matters, but we concentrate on four core areas – Fund Formation,
Distribution, Compliance, and Technology.
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management, training, and regulatory response. CCS boasts an experienced team of
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perspective tailored to your business.
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