Because this year is a Leap Year, the deadline for filing your annual amendment is March 30th and not the usual March 31st. Also, once you are done with your annual amendment filing, you still have one additional “ADV” obligation … Continued
The SEC’s website specifically lists “Form ADV Disclosures” as a risk that may be present as part of an investment adviser’s everyday operations. Some of the specific risks listed are: Inaccurate, omitted, or unclear disclosures; Out of date disclosures; Misrepresentation … Continued
Investment advisers have a fiduciary duty to act in the best interests of their clients. A central tenant of this duty is full and fair disclosure of all material facts to clients. So what you tell your clients about your … Continued
Regulatory examiners always look for inconsistencies between an advisory firm’s Form ADV Part 1 and Part 2. In fact, inconsistencies between these documents is one of the leading deficiencies found by SEC and state examiners during a regulatory audit. The … Continued
Beyond lack of disclosures, beyond incomplete disclosures and even beyond failure to disclose conflicts of interest, the most problematic disclosure issue is when there are discrepancies between an adviser’s disclosure documents. Examiners take an especially harsh view of investment advisers that fail to reconcile their … Continued
Advisers still seem a bit befuddled (what a great word) by the annual delivery requirements for their firm brochure (i.e., ADV Part 2A). These are the possible scenarios: If there are no material changes, you can merely offer (in writing) … Continued
If you manage a private fund, the amount of information you are required to disclose in the new ADV Part 1 has increased tenfold (not sure how much tenfold actually is, but it is a lot). Instead of just listing … Continued
Item 5 is the part of the ADV 1 that requests information about an investment adviser’s business, including information about employees, clients and advisory activities. Again, these changes are part of the SEC’s goal to collect more and more information … Continued
The revised Instructions to Item 2 in the ADV Part 1 requires certain “mid-sized” advisers (e.g., those advisers with between $25 million and $100 million in regulatory AUM) to remain registered with the SEC. The Instructions state that a mid-sized … Continued
My previous post discussed the new range of choices in Item 2 for SEC registration. While most of the options were already familiar, the “large adviser” and “mid-sized” adviser options were new. This post discusses the attendant changes to the … Continued
Item 2 is the section of Form ADV Part 1 that determines whether an adviser is eligible to register (or remain registered) with the SEC. To implement the new prohibition on registration for mid-sized advisers (e.g., those advisers with between … Continued
Dear Compliance Professional, The adoption by the SEC of a series of rules intended to effectuate certain provisions of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act has ushered in many significant changes for investment advisers. Some of those changes (e.g., the … Continued
On March 18, 2011, the SEC issued “Staff Responses to Questions About Part 2 of Form ADV.” Putting aside for the moment that the SEC waited until 13 days before the deadline to post this helpful material, there are a … Continued
There is an interesting article in today’s Investment News about how some states have extended the filing deadline for the new ADV 2 (and I say this not just because I am quoted in the article). These states include: Connecticut … Continued
Dear Compliance Professional, While the SEC has provided detailed instructions regarding the new ADV Part 2, there are many open questions – as there typically are with new requirements – as to the practical implications of these instructions. Many of … Continued
Dear Compliance Professional, Big doings are certainly afoot in the regulatory world. Did I say big? These “doings” are of gargantuan proportions – earth shattering, paradigm shifting, game changing doings that will affect every financial services firm including all SEC … Continued