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The SEC has announced that an Idaho man who operated an EB-5 regional center has agreed to settle a case against him alleging that he took millions of dollars to pay for luxury cars and investments unrelated to the purpose of the particular EB-5 program at issue, i.e., to develop luxury real estate and invest…

On June 5, 2017, by unanimous decision, the U.S. Supreme Court determined that disgorgement – a remedy that generated $3 billion in 2015 – is a “penalty” thereby subjecting it to the 5-year statute of limitations that applies to any “action, suit or proceeding for the enforcement of any civil fine, penalty, or forfeiture, pecuniary…

Will Haddad’s article, “EB-5 Visa Fraud, What You Need to Know,” was published in The Champion Magazine. The article reviews recent legislative, legal and other issues related to these highly desirable “fast track” visas. Such developments include a number of securities fraud cases brought by the SEC, as well as some federal criminal cases. A…

The Supreme Court, by unanimous decision, has held that “whistleblower” status under the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act, with its cash award and enhanced anti-retaliation benefits, is limited to individuals who report violations to the SEC and does not include people who internally report at a company but fail to report to the SEC. The decision is…

The Securities and Exchange Commission recently announced that a Des Moines-based broker-dealer and investment adviser has agreed to pay $1 million to settle allegations related to its failures in cyber security policies and procedures surrounding a cyber intrusion that compromised personal information of thousands of customers. In addition to a $1 million penalty, the firm…

On June 14, 2019, the Massachusetts Securities Division upped the fee disclosure requirement for state-registered advisers (i.e., advisers with less than $100 million in assets under management). Starting January 1, 2020, state advisers will be required to provide a one-page, fee table in addition to the usual narrative fee disclosures in Form ADV Part 2A.…

On June 5, 2019, the SEC approved a package of rule-making and interpretations designed to harmonize (or bring closer) the standards of conduct for brokers (BDs) and investment advisers (RIAs). The lion share of attention has been focused on the elimination, effective June 30, 2020, of the “suitability” standard governing retail brokerage accounts in favor…

SEC Rule 21F-17, spun out of Dodd-Frank, prohibits any person or entity under SEC jurisdiction from taking “any action to impede an individual from communicating directly with the Commission staff about a possible securities law violation, including enforcing, or threatening to enforce, a confidentiality agreement.” In 2015-16, the SEC brought several enforcement actions against investment…

The SEC, in an effort to bring the existing adviser marketing and cash solicitation rules into the 21st century, has approved a new rule (“Rule”) that opens a much wider playing field for advisers’ marketing campaigns. Subject to certain limitations, investment advisers are now permitted to advertise and post third-party content “to accommodate the continual…

Citing concerns about bad actors using SEC-registered investment advisers (Advisers) to launder money and obtain proprietary U.S. technology information, FinCEN has proposed a rule requiring Advisers to implement an anti-money-laundering (AML) and counterterrorism financing compliance program and to file suspicious activity reports (SARs) with FinCEN. If adopted, the SEC’s examination division would be in charge…