By Peter Tyson and Simon Riveles On June 12 2013, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued its second-ever whistleblowing award to three anonymous tipsters who helped the SEC enforce an action for fraud against Locust Offshore Management, LLC and its CEO, Andrey Hicks. Two of the tipsters provided information to the SEC regarding the fraudulent offer and sale of shares in the Locust Offshore …
The Impact of the AIFM Directive on Marketing Non-EU Funds by Non-EU Fund Managers
OVERVIEW By Peter Tyson and Simon Riveles On 22 July 2013, the EU directive on alternative investment fund managers (AIFMD) will take effect in each European Union (EU) Member State. The AIFMD establishes an authorization regime as well as a rulebook for managing and marketing alternative investment funds (AIFs) by alternative investment fund managers (AIFMs) within the EU. In addition to retaining the private placement …
Recent FINRA Anti-Money Laundering Actions against Member Firms
Recent penalties imposed by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) against three companies that failed to implement adequate procedures to detect money laundering demonstrate the agency’s continued attention on anti-money laundering (AML) compliance programs. FINRA levied a total of $900,000 in sanctions and suspensions against Atlas One Financial Group (“Atlas”), Firstrade Securities (“Firstrade”), and World Trade Financial Corporation (WFTC) in addition to four executives associated …