Happy Friday. Below are some recent updates that we thought were relevant and/or interesting. Please contact us if you have any questions on the below.
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IA Annual Update – a reminder to investment advisers that the annual ADV update will be due in 3 weeks. If you have not already begun the process, you should start working with your fund attorney or compliance consultant to finish the update which is due by March 31, 2017. Please see our earlier post on the IA update process for more information.
Cybersecurity watch for fund managers – the SEC recently sent a note out to EDGAR users about a phishing email scam. Emails were purportedly sent from the SEC about changes to the Form 10-K; the emails in fact were part a phishing scam. A reminder for all to be vigilant with inbound emails. For the release from the SEC, please click here.
DOL Fiduciary Rule – whether the Department of Labor’s new fiduciary rule will be enacted has been subject to constant speculation since the election of President Trump. Speculation continues in the wake of the March 2nd notice by the DOL asking for comments on whether to delay application of the rule by 60 days (the rule is/was supposed to be applicable as of April 10, 2017). Interestingly enough, the request for comments on whether to delay the application of the rule comes from pressure from the current administration; as specifically noted by the DOL in the Federal Register:
The President by Memorandum to the Secretary of Labor, dated February 3, 2017, directed the Department of Labor to examine whether the final fiduciary rule may adversely affect the ability of Americans to gain access to retirement information and financial advice, and to prepare an updated economic and legal analysis concerning the likely impact of the final rule as part of that examination.
Comments on the proposal to delay the rule are due to the DOL by March 17, 2017. Expect to see a number of stories on this topic over the next couple of weeks. For more information, see the notice in the Federal Register.
Marijuana / Cannabis Hedge Funds – we recently wrote a post about the legal and operational issues for hedge fund managers in the cannabis space. We think there will be a lot of stories about this sector in the next few months as the Trump administration sorts out whether and how to enforce federal prohibitions against marijuana.
Other items of interest – we think there will continue to be interesting stories that affect the investment management industry, especially with respect to regulations and taxes (we’re hoping for more news on tax cuts, instead of news related to “closing the carried interest loophole”). Always of interest are discussions related to the decrease of hedge fund management and performance fees – I’m sure we’ll see more stories and anecdotes likes these.
Have a great weekend!
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Bart Mallon is a founding partner of Cole-Frieman & Mallon LLP and focuses his legal practice on the investment management industry. He can be reached directly at 415-868-5345.