CONFERENCE AGENDA DESCRIPTIONS
Workshop Session: Understanding CCO and Supervisory Responsibilities
- Introduction to the relevant supervisory regulations and legal landscape
- CCO and Supervisory Responsibility
- Effective oversight of staff and managing and budgeting for a compliance department
- Monitoring the industry for best practices
- Keeping up with the SEC rules and enforcement actions
- Supervising foreign operations
- CCO Liability
- E&O insurance and risk management
- Development, implementation, and testing of policies and procedures
- Employee compliance training
- Developing a "Culture of Compliance"
Peer Group Roundtables
- Free-form discussions
- Intimate groups of like-minded advisers
- Discussion topics set by advisers
- ACA facilitators participating in each roundtable
Compliance Benchmarking: Results of the 2008 Investment Management Compliance Testing Survey
- Summary of results of compliance testing survey conducted by ACA Compliance Group, IM Insight, Investment Adviser Association, and Old Mutual
- Best practices in the areas covered by survey
- Benchmarking compliance practices among peers
- Identification of notable compliance trends
Anti-Money Laundering Best Practices
- OFAC and its applicability to an advisory business
- Money laundering risk of investing abroad
- Identification of high risk clients and suspicious activity
- Understanding the Bank Secrecy Act and its enforcers
- Filing a Suspicious Activity Report
New Form ADV Part 2
- Summary of the new Form ADV Part 2
- Brochure supplement requirement
- Material changes to disclosure requirements
- Disclosure of conflicts of interest in “plain English”
- Requirement by hedge fund managers to deliver Part 2 to investors
- Satisfying the brochure delivery requirement
Marketing by Advisers
- Key SEC advertising no-action letters
- Advertising prohibitions
- Full and accurate disclosures
- Use of solicitors
- Advertising performance returns
- Responding to RFPs
- Marketing books and records
Valuation
- Common fair valuation methodologies
- Oversight of third-party pricing vendors
- Price challenges
- “Accommodation quotes”
- FAS 157
- Illiquid Securities
Trading & Trade Errors
- Trade aggregation and allocation
- Cross trades and principal transactions
- Prohibited trades under ERISA
- Defining a “trade error”
- Documentation of trade errors
- Disclosure of trading and trade error policies
Identifying Prohibited Securities Transactions for Mutual Funds
- Overview of key prohibited transactions rules under the Investment Company Act
- Developing procedures in the adviser’s business for mutual fund regulatory compliance
- Common delegated responsibilities to advisers in a 38a-1 program
- Identification and monitoring of common prohibited transactions
State Issues for SEC Registered Investment Advisers
- States authority to investigate SEC-registered advisers
- State filing requirements
- Registration of individuals
Code of Ethics and Insider Trading
- Personal trading by employees
- Pre-clearance and reporting requirements
- Defining “material” and “non-public” information
- Establishing controls over material non-public information
- Gifts and entertainment policies
- Outside business activities
Best Execution
- Meaning of best execution
- Directed brokerage practices
- Use of soft dollars
- Documentation of best execution analysis
- Equity trades vs. fixed income trades
- ECNs
- Comparison with VWAP
Regulation S-P
- Amendments to Reg. S-P
- Information security programs
- Form SP-30
- Identification of security breaches
- Proper disposal of non-public client information
- Notification requirements for breaches of security
How to Manage an SEC Inspection
- Summary of types of SEC examinations
- SEC request lists
- FOIA requests
- Preparing books and records for inspection
- Being interviewed by SEC staff members
- Disagreements with SEC staff conclusions
- Exit interviews
- Responding to deficiency letters
CCO's Guide to GIPS Compliance
- Documented policies and procedures required by GIPS
- Responsibilities that must be upheld by GIPS compliant firms
- GIPS Advertising Guidelines
- Areas where GIPS differ from SEC rules and regulations
- Tips on how to better ensure your firm is compliant
- Deficiencies commonly found by regulators and verifiers