NRS Insights Blog

Environmental, social and governance (ESG) compliance. Three letters, which, five years ago you most likely hadn’t heard too much about. But now? That couldn’t be more different. ESG has become the topic du-jour. Between the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) making it one of their top exam priorities for 2022 and recent charges against top-tier investment advisers, you would be hard pressed to visit a news site or peruse a social media app and without seeing some reference to it. In this post, we’ll break down what ESG compliance is, why it matters and best practices for implementing your own ESG policies.

While November might seem lightyears away, the deadline for the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) new marketing rule – November 4, 2022 – is just around the corner. Last week, at the NRS 2022 Spring Conference, we polled the audience at our session “Countdown to New IA Marketing Rules” and found that approximately 50% of attendees have not yet begun implementation of the rule. While the session moderators fielded a host of questions and comments from the audience, we’ve aggregated the top questions regarding the new SEC marketing rule.

The Securities and Exchange Commission, Division of Examination (“the Division”), on March 30, 2022, published its long-awaited examination priorities, setting forth the Division’s priorities and the areas of focus posing risks to investors or the integrity of the capital markets. This commentary addresses selected risk areas from the examination priorities impacting private fund advisers.

The NRS Spring 2022 Compliance Conference (held May 16th – 19th in Orlando, FL) offers the ideal opportunity to learn from the best-of-the-best, including industry experts, compliance professionals, and the regulators themselves.

Earlier this month, two of our teammates attended the 2022 IAA Investment Adviser Compliance Conference, talking with experts and attending key sessions.

The Securities and Exchange has proposed cybersecurity risk management rule amendments for registered investment advisers, and registered investment companies and business development companies (“funds”), as well as amendments to certain rules that govern investment adviser and fund disclosures.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has proposed new rules and amendments under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (Advisers Act) to enhance the regulation of private fund advisers and to protect private fund investors increasing transparency, competition, and efficiency.

On December 17th, 2021 the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) released their Staff Statements Regarding Form CRS Disclosures.

On December 22, 2020, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted amendments (the final rule) to Rule 206(4)-1 under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (the Advisers Act) to modernize the regulation of investment adviser advertising and solicitation practices.

The US Department of Labor (DOL) announced that Prohibited Transaction Exemption (PTE) 2020-02, which governs conduct by 3(21) ERISA fiduciaries (generally those who provide non-discretionary advice for a fee), took effect on February 16, 2021. (Under Section 4975 of the Internal Revenue Code, this also applies to persons who provide non-discretionary advice to IRAs.)