www.colefrieman.com Clients, Friends, Associates: Although we are late in publishing this year-end planning memo, we believe it may still be helpful for managers on this last day of 2011 and into the new year.  In addition to all of the administrative details involved in closing out the year, the regulatory landscape [...]

On December 1st and 2nd Private Equity International (PEI) will be hosting a Fund Compliance Forum in San Francisco.   The forum will be focused on providing private equity firms with information on various Dodd-Frank compliance requirements, including the investment adviser registration requirement.  Karl Cole-Frieman, a partner with Cole-Frieman & [...]

The National Introducing Brokers Association (NIBA) has started a petition asking the judge in the MF Global bankruptcy proceeding to release customer segregated funds.  Below we have provided the full text of the petition which members of the community can sign by going here.  It is unclear how this would work [...]

SEC v. Andrey C. Hicks and Locust Offshore Management, LLC Marketing, of course, is an issue close to the heart of every hedge fund manager. You spend so much time and effort making your pitchbook and other materials exactly right in terms of strategy, investment process and all the details [...]

Quarterly CPO Filing Due by November 14 For those commodity pool operators who are registered with the NFA, there is a quarterly reporting requirement under Rule 2-46.  This filing must be submitted to the NFA by November 14 through the NFA’s EasyFile system.  Today the NFA sent the following reminder [...]

SIPC Does Not Cover Futures Accounts at MF Global The MF Global bankruptcy is creating a number of problems for managers with accounts at the firm. One question we have received from some managers is whether their client accounts are insured either through the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (“SIPC”) or [...]

CPOs Must Provide Information to Fund Investors Below is guidance just provided by the NFA regarding MF Global.  Commodity Pool Operators must provide investors with a disclosure regarding the fund’s assets held at MF Global.  Additionally, if the CPO is soliciting new investors for the fund, the CPO will need [...]

Friends: Cole-Frieman & Mallon LLP is pleased to announce the addition of an alternative mutual funds practice led by new partner Aisha Hunt.  Below is our press release announcing Aisha’s affiliation as well as the new practice area.  We all look forward to continuing to provide top-tier legal services to the [...]

SEC Mandates FINRA to Receive Form PF Filings SEC has chosen FINRA to accept Form PF filings on its behalf when and if Form PF is adopted.  As background, on January 26, 2011 the SEC issued a proposed Rule 204(b)-1 under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 which would require SEC [...]

Hedge Fund Strategies Employed by Mutual Funds Since the financial crisis of 2008, a growing number of retail investors have sought access to more sophisticated investment strategies to protect against downside risk.  Most retail investors are not eligible to invest directly in hedge funds so they have turned to mutual [...]