On December 20, 2018, the Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (“OCIE”) released its 2019 Examination Priorities Letter (the “Letter”). The release came on the heels of a flurry of last minute activity by the SEC before both the holiday season and the impending government shutdown. OCIE was late to issue its 2018 exam priorities letter, which was not released until February 2018. The earlier release this time is indicative of the criticism over the…
The Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) issued a new National Exam Program Risk Alert (the “Alert”) last week on electronic messaging. OCIE conducted an undisclosed number of limited scope examinations of investment advisers to determine the risks and controls surrounding the use of electronic messaging by advisers and their personnel. The examinations purposefully excluded business account emails in order to focus on the use of messaging and personal emails for business purposes.
There…
With a four month amnesty period for firms to self-report violations related to share class selection expired, the SEC’s follow-up sweep of firms that did not volunteer information to the regulator is swiftly moving ahead. Amy Lynch, FrontLine’s Founder and President, explains that the sweep letters being received by firms are a typical response by the SEC following a request for voluntary reporting. Further, Ms. Lynch cautions that the SEC has a historical practice of…
An ongoing SEC investigation of an investment consultant that began in 2017 has raised questions on the timing of the firm’s disclosure to clients. In this particular case, as discussed in the article, information disclosed by the consultant to its clients has been inconsistent, with only some current clients being notified. Founder and President, Amy Lynch, explains that there is no legal obligation for an investment consultant to publicly disclose an SEC investigation until the…
