US Legal & Regulation

The Securities and Exchange Commission has obtained an emergency court order to freeze the assets of St Louis-based private investment funds and management firms after suing them and their principal for a scheme to defraud investors. »

The Securities and Exchange Commission has filed an emergency enforcement action to stop a fraudulent scheme targeting investors seeking coveted stock in Internet and technology companies like Facebook and Groupon in advance of a public offering. »

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has approved a final rule requiring certain advisors to private funds that are dually registered with the CFTC and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to report information to the SEC for use by the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) in monitoring risks to the US financial system. »

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has voted unanimously to adopt a new rule requiring certain advisers to hedge funds and other private funds to report information for use by the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) in monitoring risks to the U.S. financial system. »

The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged a Long Island-based investment adviser with defrauding investors in hedge funds investing in PIPE transactions and misappropriating more than USD1 million in client assets for his personal use. »

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged two Florida men with operating a Ponzi scheme disguised as a purported private equity fund that fraudulently raised approximately USD22 million from more than 100 investors, many of whom were Florida teachers or retirees. »

Guernsey’s engagement with Washington has resulted in Democrat Senator Carl Levin removing the Island from his “blacklist”. Guernsey’s Chief Minister Lyndon Trott (pictured) this week met with officials in Washington. The meetings continued a dialogue started nearly a decade ago to strengthen ties between the Guernsey and US governments and reinforced Guernsey’s reputation as a leader in tax transparency, information exchange and international co-operation. »

The Honorable Susan Illston of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California on July 14, 2011 ordered former TPG Capital, LP (TPG) private equity associate Vinayak S Gowrish to pay in excess of USD112,000, consisting of USD12,000 in disgorgement (with interest to be calculated thereon) and a USD100,000 civil penalty, for his role in a serial insider trading ring. »

The seemingly intuitive application of long-standing securities anti-fraud and anti-manipulation rules to the complex world of over-the-counter derivatives, particularly where derivative products intersect with the loan market, will affect trading practices and compliance rules at all institutions trading these instruments, according to Richards Kibbe & Orbe partners Julia Lu and Eva Marie Carney... »

The Alternative Investment Management Association is to engage with US policymakers and supervisors over the implementation of the Dodd-Frank Act.  »