Latest Insights

We are delighted to present the September edition of The Hedge, in partnership with Brodie Consulting Group – a brief run through of the past month’s news and views from the hedge fund sector, covering noteworthy activity around investments, activism, crypto, marketing, regulation and other relevant topics.

No matter how well written your compliance policies are, or how diligent your compliance team may be, the prospect of an SEC examination brings an immediate increase in anxiety levels.

A UK investment firm, such as an asset manager, investment adviser or broker, is required to become authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority prior to commencing these activities.

We are delighted to present the June edition of The Hedge, in partnership with Brodie Consulting Group – a brief run through of the past month’s news and views from the hedge fund sector, covering noteworthy activity around investments, activism, crypto, marketing, regulation and other relevant topics.

We are delighted to present the April edition of The Hedge, in partnership with Brodie Consulting Group – a brief run through of the past month’s news and views from the hedge fund sector, covering noteworthy activity around investments, activism, crypto, marketing, regulation and other relevant topics.

Our Q1, 2022 Quarterly Newsletter is part of a series that provides a regular update of key regulatory issues affecting the UK/EU and the USA, to help you connect the dots.

On February 10, the SEC proposed to amend a number of rules related to Schedules 13D and 13G in an effort to modernize the threshold disclosure regime, noting that the deadline for filing a Schedule 13D has remained unchanged for 50 years.

Given the recent market volatility, the National Futures Association (“NFA”) has issued a Notice to Members (I-22-10) reminding Commodity Pool Operators (“CPOs”) of their obligations under Compliance Rule 2-50. The rule requires CPOs to notify the NFA within one business day if:

We are delighted to present the March edition of The Hedge, in partnership with Brodie Consulting Group – a brief run through of the past month’s news and views from the hedge fund sector, covering noteworthy activity around investments, activism, crypto, marketing, regulation and other relevant topics.

On February 9th, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) proposed sweeping new rules to govern private funds. The comment period on the proposal expires 60 days from the proposal date or 30 days from publication in the Federal Register, whichever is sooner – although many trade bodies have requested an extension to respond, given the heft and complexity of the new proposals.

The Financial Conduct Authority has recently released a Policy Statement (“PS”) confirming its new structure for authorisation application fees which comes into effect from 24 January 2022.

Our Q4, 2021 Quarterly Newsletter is part of a series that provides a regular update of key regulatory issues affecting the UK/EU and the USA, to help you connect the dots.

The Investment Firms Prudential Regime (‘IFPR’) takes effect on 1 January 2022. It is a major overhaul of the prudential framework for investment firms and certain asset managers.

Stats don’t lie and we like to help you connect the dots, so having done extensive research on the topic over the past two years, we’d like to dispel a couple of myths up front, to help manage industry expectations…

We are delighted to present the October edition of The Hedge, in partnership with Brodie Consulting Group.

We are delighted to present the September edition of The Hedge, in partnership with Brodie Consulting Group.

Our 2021 Q2 Quarterly Newsletter is part of a series that provides a regular update of key regulatory issues affecting the UK/EU and the USA, to help you connect the dots...

We’re proud to partner with Brodie Consulting Group to present The Hedge - a brief run through of the past month’s news and views from the hedge fund sector, covering noteworthy activity around investments, activism, crypto, marketing, regulation and other relevant topics.

In January 2022, investment firms shall bid farewell to (for some) a much beloved acronym – ICAAP, or the Internal Capital Adequacy Assessment Process

Our Q1, 2021 Quarterly Newsletter is part of a series that provides a regular update of key regulatory issues affecting the UK/EU and the USA, to help you connect the dots.

This week, the NFA sent a rule submission letter to the CFTC that will amend how CPO members notify the NFA of events affecting the pool’s ability to fulfill its obligations to investors.

Every year, the SEC’s Division of Examinations (the “Division”) publishes its examination priorities to provide insight and transparency into its risk-based approach. While the recently published 2021 Examination Priorities confirm that the SEC will continue its long-standing focus on advisers to private funds, we do, however, see some relatively new themes being addressed and we anticipate these will further evolve with time.

In the UK, a professional code setting out behavioural expectations is commonplace. Social workers have been subject to a code of ethics since 1975. A code of conduct for barristers has existed since at least the 19th Century. The Hippocratic Oath for physicians has been around for over 2,000 years! 

Our Q4, 2020 Quarterly Newsletter is part of a series that provides a regular update of key regulatory issues affecting the UK/EU and the USA, to help you connect the dots. In the UK/Europe, regulators and legislators will focus on topics such as ESG, financial resources, conduct, culture and accountability, the transition from LIBOR, cryptocurrency regulation and updating existing legislative programmes.

The UK Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) has banned three individuals from working in the financial services industry, following their convictions of serious non-financial criminal offences.

On October 6, 2020, FINRA issued a Regulatory Notice warning member firms of a
widespread, ongoing phishing campaign that involves fraudulent emails purporting to be
from FINRA asking member firms to complete a survey.

Our Q3, 2020 Quarterly Newsletter is part of a series that provides a regular update of key regulatory issues affecting the UK/EU and the USA, to help you connect the dots.

Who has committed market abuse? Michael Douglas? Eddie Murphy? Both?

The TV show ‘Breaking Bad’, focuses on Walter White, a high school chemistry teacher turned drug baron.

Yesterday our CEO Robert Quinn participated in a joint webinar with Katharine Archer, Tax Partner at haysmacintyre, entitled 'Taxing times in a Regulated industry'.

The FCA has extended the deadline for fulfilling certain elements of the Senior Managers and Certification Regime (“SMCR”) from 9 December 2020 until 31 March 2021.

To become FCA authorised takes around 6-12 months and this can be delayed if get feedback and have to re-submit your application. Using a consultant, this could take as little as 3-6 months to become fully FCA authorised.

Yes, you can get FCA authorised with a criminal record depending on the type of the conviction and the length of time since you were convicted, amongst other factors.

Our Q2, 2020 Quarterly Newsletter is part of a series that provides a regular update of key regulatory issues affecting the UK/EU and the USA, to help you connect the dots.

The SEC has recently issued a Risk Alert highlighting Observations from Examinations of Investment Advisers Managing Private Funds. This Risk Alert provides an overview of certain compliance issues observed by the Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (“OCIE”) in examinations of registered investment advisers that manage private equity funds or hedge funds (collectively, “private fund advisers”).

The FCA has published a discussion paper (DP20/02) that sets out proposals regarding the new prudential regime for UK investment firms.

Thanks to everyone that participated in our inaugural UK compliance survey.

As the Covid-19 landscape continually evolves, so do the challenges facing firms. Enactment of business continuity plans to enable large scale remote working is being replaced with how best to return to an office environment, to cite one example.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced that Ares Management LLC, a Los Angeles-based private equity firm and registered investment adviser, agreed to pay $1,000,000 to settle charges that it failed to implement and enforce policies and procedures reasonably designed to prevent the misuse of material non-public information (“MNPI”).

The year is 1997. An investment firm has a new intake of staff – graduate trainees, investment professionals, operations specialists, back-office workers. A memo goes round. The new staff members are required to attend a compliance training course.

A particular aspect of the UK regulatory environment is that financial institutions can be classified in a number of different ways. For example, it’s possible for a firm to be classified as an FCA-regulated firm, an investment firm, a portfolio manager, a small CASS firm and an ‘IPFRU’ firm – amongst others!

Welcome to our Q1, 2020 newsletter - part of a series that aims to provide a quarterly update of key regulatory issues affecting the UK/EU and the USA.

After a considerable delay, a timetable for the implementation of the reporting obligations relating to the Securities Financing Transactions Regulation (“SFTR”) has now been finalised.

On 17 March 2020, the FCA published their second communication regarding the Coronavirus outbreak, “FCA information for firms on Coronavirus (Covid-19) response”. Their first was published on 4 March 2020. In this most recent update, the FCA iterates that it expects firms to be taking reasonable steps to ensure that they are prepared to meet the challenges that the coronavirus poses to customers and staff

Having business continuity arrangements in place is a long-established FCA regulatory requirement and the rapid onset of coronavirus presents a new conundrum for firms. Specifically, how to plan for something where the range of potential outcomes is so diverse.

Following a year occupied with Brexit confusion the FCA has commemorated the start of a new decade with a release of ‘Dear CEO’ letters, somewhat reminiscent of the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s ‘examinations priorities’, which set out key risks of harm that the regulator considers relevant to certain sectors, including asset management.

Welcome to our new-look newsletter, which is part of a series of quarterly newsletters that we have been publishing for some time. Although the look and feel is very much different, the intent is very much the same – to provide you with an update of key regulatory issues affecting the UK/EU and the USA.

Robert Quinn Consulting (RQC), a market-leading provider of compliance consulting, regulatory hosting and online training, and Vero Screening, the UK’s largest independent employment screening company, have formed a partnership which harnesses the skills and experience of both firms to provide a full range of solutions for all FCA regulated firms implementing the Senior Managers and Certification Regime (SMCR).

In April 2019, the European Parliament approved changes to the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (“AIFMD”) and the UCITS directive to facilitate cross-border marketing of funds. The changes, which take the form of a directive and a regulation, seek to improve the efficiency of cross-border marketing of funds across the EU.

On 16 April 2019, the European Parliament passed the new legislation on prudential requirements for MiFID investment firms. It is anticipated that this will come into force in late 2020 or early 2021.