According to the Court of Appeal:
Court: Investment Adviser Has No Duty To Warn Non-Clients
Posted on March 17, 2025
Did The SEC Charge The Wrong Person With Failure To File Timely A Form D?
Posted on December 29, 2024
I recently wrote about the Securities and Exchange Commission's announcement that it had settled "charges" against several entities for failing to file time Forms D. One of the entities settling with the SEC is a registered investment adviser to...
Mum's The Word At California's Civil Rights Department Regarding Fair Investment Practices By Investment Advisers Law (AKA SB 54)
Posted on March 14, 2024
I wrote about a bill, SB 54, 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 poorly drafted as to...
DFPI Posts Annual B-D/IA Report To The Legislature
Posted on September 13, 2023
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...
Nonsensical Bill Requiring Founding Team Diversity Reports Advances
Posted on July 28, 2023
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...
California Bill Would Require Some Advisers To Venture Capital Firms To File Diversity Reports, But What About Preemption?
Posted on April 28, 2023
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...
Nearly 700 Reports Financial Abuse of Elders/Dependent Adults Received By DFPI
Posted on February 14, 2022
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...
California's Alarmingly Expansive Definition Of "Investment Adviser"
Posted on October 09, 2020
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...
Unlicensed Broker-Dealers And Investment Advisers Face Treble Damages
Posted on July 01, 2019
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...
