For many asset managers and investment companies, the topic of compliance tends to focus on federal securities, particularly Rule 206(4)-7 under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (the "Advisers Act) and Rule 38a-1 under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the "Company Act"). While these rules and the SEC's guidance related to them are important, state law also plays a vital role in compliance. Delaware case law and other legal principles support the conclusion that chief compliance officers of SEC-registrants also have a fiduciary duty under state law to develop, enact, and maintain a robust compliance program.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Cincinnati, OH (October 1, 2018) - CCO Tech today announces the release of its SEC Filing Manager, the first module of an integrated web-based compliance system for small- and mid-sized registered investment advisers (RIAs). SEC Filing Manager automates the completion of Form ADV, the starting point for regulatory compliance filing for every SEC-registered investment adviser. Additional modules will soon be released to create a comprehensive compliance system.

In May, we discussed eight things that you needed to know about the liquidity rule in this article. At that time, we noted that part of the rule was due to take effect in December 2018 for large fund families or June 2019 for smaller fund families. The parts that were delayed until 2019 included the liquidity classifications (i.e., the buckets) and the highly liquid minimum requirement.  More importantly, our third point was that the SEC would have more changes to the liquidity rule in 2018.

IM Director's Recent Remarks on Standards of Conduct & Liquidity Risk Management

by Peter Michael Allen

1. Its name.

Most people simply refer to the rule as the “liquidity rule”, but its technical name is Rule 22e-4: Investment Company Liquidity Risk Management Programs. If the rule survives in any meaningful form, we should start a contest on whether the industry keeps calling it the liquidity rule or refers to it as Rule 22e-4. Think of Rule 38a-1 under the Investment Company Act. Some people may refer to it as the “compliance rule”, but most simply call it Rule 38a-1.

In Part 1 of our discussion of the use of artificial intelligence in the investment management industry, we discussed how the SEC is getting big data as its first step to developing AI systems. In this second post of our three-part series, we discuss how AI systems are being used by service providers and the impact of those systems on asset managers. Our next post will discuss how asset managers are using and benefiting from AI systems.

For years now, the concept of “Big Data” has been wildly popular in the business world. It seemed that everyone who was anyone was using big data to improve performance, boost revenue, and break into new markets. For true technology innovators, big data was the first step to something bigger: artificial intelligence.

The SEC’s stance on its not-yet-effective liquidity rule appears fluid, as commissioners push to abandon part of the rule and certain division heads move on to other topics. At the 2018 ICI Mutual Funds and Investment Management conference, Commissioner Hester Peirce and division director Dalia Blass signaled the possible end of the liquidity rule as an emphasis of the SEC.

Why is the SEC nervous?

On February 23, 2018, Commissioner Kara M. Stein gave a speech at SEC Speaks in Washington, DC. During the speech, Commissioner Stein raised broad ethical and economic considerations regarding the rapid advances in financial product innovation, which appears to be accelerating as financial firms increasingly use technology to expand their product line and deepen their reach into retail markets.