The question “how are private equity firms doing?” was asked back in 2012 by the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (“SEC’s”) Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (“OCIE”), in response to the growth of this industry. In October 2012, OCIE launched its Presence Exam Initiative (the “Initiative”) for newly registered private equity firms. Now that a year and a half has passed, OCIE Director Andrew Bowden has addressed some of the results and concerns that have arisen thus far in the examination of private equity firms. In this blog post, we will highlight key results and findings provided by Mr. Bowden in his May 6, 2014 speech.

Recently, the California Department of Business Oversight (“DBO”) officially adopted revisions to the California investment adviser custody rule, Section 260.237 of Title 10 of the California Code of Regulations (the “Rule”). According to the DBO, these changes were in response to, and incorporate provisions from, the recently adopted amendments to the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (“SEC’s”) Custody Rule[1] and the North American Securities Administrators Association’s (“NASAA’s”) Model Custody Rule.[2] Notably, changes to the federal custody rule in 2009 prompted changes to the Model Rule by NASAA, which in turn triggered the DBO to enact its recent revisions. According to the DBO, the goal of the Rule’s enactment is to increase uniformity so that regardless of whether an investment adviser registers with the State of California or with the SEC, the adviser will have the same responsibilities with investors afforded the same protections.

The past two months have seen much in the way of political and civil strife in the Ukraine, as Russian forces moved into the Crimea and Eastern regions. After a series of economic sanctions against Russia were instituted by the US in March and early April 2014, by April 28^th, the Treasury Department announced additional sanctions on seven (7) Russian officials and seventeen (17) entities that are owned, controlled by, or have supported senior Russian government officials. This action by the US has specifically aimed to stop Americans with doing any business with the listed officials and entities. More restrictions are yet to come, including penalties assessed to the Russian defense, high technology, and engineering and energy sectors.

There has been a recent flurry of news reports, analysis and webinars in the securities law world around the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (“SEC’s”) Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (“OCIE”) proposed 2014 Cybersecurity Initiative. Launched as a major news item this month after the SEC’s OCIE published its April 15, 2014 Risk Alert devoted to the topic, the Cybersecurity Initiative redirects the financial industry’s compliance focus back to SEC examinations, as OCIE purports to conduct exams on “more than 50 registered broker-dealers and registered investment advisers”, focusing specifically on a firm’s “cybersecurity preparedness.”