California Corporate & Securities Law

The California Department of Financial Protection & Innovation recently posted its 2023 Annual Report to the Legislature regarding its broker-dealer and investment adviser programs. The report's title is a bit of a misnomer as most of the data in...

In April, I reported on SB 54 (Skinner), a bill that would have required institutional Investors, securities and real estate brokers, and others to report on the diversity status of "founding teams".  At the time, I criticized the bill as being "so...

As I discussed in this post from earlier this month, SB 54 would have required institutional investors, securities and real estate brokers, and others to report diversity status of startup founding teams. The bill has since been substantially...

In 2019, I wrote about a then pending proposal, SB 496 (Moorlach), to add broker-dealers and investment advisers to the category of mandated reporters of known or suspected financial abuse of elders or dependent adults. This legislation was later...

Is someone who predicts a future stock market crash and advises reallocating investments to precious metals or real estate an investment adviser?  A recent complaint filed the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, California and 29 other states takes...

In Yokell v. Draper, 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 117427, U.S. Magistrate Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley wrote that "California Code of Civil Procedure section 1029.8 provides a private right of action for persons harmed by "[unlicensed persons who cause...

Seven years ago, the Securities and Exchange Commission amended Part 2 of Form ADV to require investment advisers to provide new and prospective clients with a brochure and brochure supplements written in plain English. The SEC's stated purpose was...

The California Department of Business Oversight recently issued a report on its Broker-Dealer/Investment Adviser Program. This report was required by the Budget Act of 2014. Although short, the report provides some interesting data about...