Personal Trading

Advisory firm chief compliance officers should avoid falling into the trap of thinking that compliance with personal trading requirements is low-hanging fruit. While it may be as simple as reviewing periodic reports for some employees, compliance in this area can be more complex and challenging.

The SECs Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations, in a September 4 Risk Alert, lets advisers know the most frequent principal trading and agency cross-transaction compliance issues that examiners observed – and therefore what firms can expect examiners to make a point of looking at during future visits. Specifically, the Risk Alert focuses on compliance […]

Chief compliance officers need to monitor personal trading. It can be difficult to do, but it can be done.

Proactive steps you take now to uncover improper personal trading may save your firm a lot of grief later on.

The SEC on August 27, in a first of its kind action, sanctioned an advisory firms former assistant portfolio manager under Rule 38a-1(c) under the Investment Company Act for forging documents and misleading the firms chief compliance officer to hide his failure to report personal trades. The portfolio managers actions, which resulted in a settlement […]

[Correction: The initial version of this story incorrectly attributed Sutherland Law Firm partner Brian Rubin’s comments to ACA Compliance Group partner Barry Schwartz. The corrected version appears below.]Insider trading is the new Ponzi scheme.At least, thats how it appears to be shaping up after the SECs numerous recent announcements of complaints and enforcement actions involving […]

The top five areas of deficiencies most commonly found during adviser exams “are very, very consistent from year to year,” according to OCIE associate director Gene Gohlke. And since those areas are so well-known, CCOs should do something about them. Speaking at the recent “SEC Speaks” conference in Washington, D.C., Gohlke said that if he […]

This is one heck of a story.Joseph Sullivan used to be the COO and CCO of Peconic Partners, a New York hedge fund manager that currently has about $1 billion under management. If his name rings a bell, its because youve heard him speak at the SECs CCOutreach National Seminar. Back in 2006, Sullivan appeared […]

(Continued from the October 20 issue.) Here are a few additional items to consider as you review your code of ethics: Has your firms preclearance policy held up in light of the past two months? Per the Advisers Act code of ethics rule, your code must require access persons to obtain preapproval before directly or […]

According to OCIE director Lori Richards, the “most important” thing for compliance officers at advisory firms to do right now is to remind their firms employees about their fiduciary obligations to clients. Beyond that, she suggested a number of specific areas that compliance officers should “pay particular attention to.” SEC examiners, she noted, will be […]