HedgeCo.net (West Palm Beach) – Off-shore hedge fund law firm, Sadis & Goldberg LLP, sent out a letter to their clients announcing that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) appears determined to issue more subpoenas and give people more incentives to cooperate with investigations as it works to enhance its oversight of the financial markets.
 
The letter, obtained by HedgeCo, explains, ”Don’t be surprised if you receive a subpoena or are contacted by the SEC.” Daniel G. Viola, spokesperson for Sadis & Goldberg, said, ”The SEC has significantly increased its enforcement efforts since the recent discovery of certain high profile Ponzi schemes.”

Effective August 11, 2009, the SEC has also made it easier for its staff attorneys to issue subpoenas. Thus, the SEC staff attorneys will no longer have to obtain formal approvals to issue subpoenas; instead, they will simply need approval from their senior supervisor.

”If you receive an inquiry letter or subpoena from the SEC, remain calm, ”Viola said, ”This is not uncommon given the current regulatory climate. Above all, do not respond without first contacting legal counsel.”
 
The The SEC generally has broad powers to conduct investigations of potential violations of the federal securities laws and often works with the Department of Justice in connection with joint proceedings, often known as ”parallel proceedings.”

The law firms Regulatory Practice Group consists of former SEC personnel and litigators with experience regarding civil and criminal proceedings.

Contact info:
Daniel G. Viola at 212.573.8038 (or dviola@sglawyers.com)
Christiaan Johnson-Green at 212.573.8169 (or cjohnson-green@sglawyers.com)

Alex Akesson

Editor for HedgeCo.net

alex@hedgeco.net

HedgeCo.Net is a premier hedge fund database and community for qualified and accredited investors only. Membership on www.hedgeco.net is FREE and EASY. We also offer FREE LISTINGS for Hedge Funds!

Tags: accredited-investors, criminal proceedings, enforcement efforts, federal securities laws, hedge fund, hedge funds, inquiry letter, legal counsel, litigators, palm-beach, practice group, quot, regulatory climate, regulatory practice, sec staff, securities-and-exchange-commission, staff attorneys, subpoena, subpoenas, west palm beach

West Palm Beach (HedgeCo.net) – At the MFA Legal, Compliance and Operations Seminar in New York last week, SEC staff described its examination and enforcement priorities for the foreseeable future with respect to hedge funds and investment advisers.

According to a letter obtained by HedgeCo, the SEC staff said that as part of their examination of hedge funds and investment advisers, the SEC intends to contact investors, verifying that the hedge fund/investment manager is providing the same statement information to both the client and SEC staff.

The concern here is that the manager might be providing one set of statements to the SEC for exam purposes and another set of statements to the clients that contain materially different account balances or performance information.

This aspect of the exam program may have significant investor relationship implications for fund managers. When questioned, the SEC staff members indicated that they may issue a press release stating that this aspect will be part of examinations going forward.

The SEC staff indicated that fund managers may run the risk of obstructing the examination by getting ahead of the process and communicating directly with investors ahead of SEC staff.

The SEC also warned investors about con-artists who may use the names of SEC employees to mislead, trick and conduct "emergency" examinations.

Alex Akesson

HedgeCo.Net is a premier hedge fund database and community for qualified and accredited investors only. Membership on www.hedgeco.net is FREE and EASY. We also offer FREE LISTINGS for Hedge Funds

Tags: account balances, accredited-investors, con artists, enforcement priorities, foreseeable future, fund-investment, fund-managers, hedgeco, investment advisers, investment manager, investor relationship, legal compliance, palm-beach, press release, sec employees, sec staff, staff members