More On Legal & Compliance
from The Advisor's Professional Library- Agency and Principal Transactions In passing Section 206(3) of the Investment Advisers Act, Congress recognized that principal and agency transactions can be harmful to clients. Such transactions create the opportunity for RIAs to engage in self-dealing.
- Using Solicitors to Attract Clients Rule 206(4)-3 under the Investment Advisors Act establishes requirements governing cash payments to solicitors. The rule permits payment of cash referral fees to individuals and companies recommending clients to an RIA, but requires four conditions are first satisfied.
The April fraud charge alleged that "Goldman failed to disclose to investors vital information about the CDO, known as ABACUS 2007-AC1, particularly the role that hedge fund Paulson & Co. Inc. played in the portfolio selection process and the fact that Paulson had taken a short position against the CDO," according to the SEC news release. (See "SEC Charges Goldman Sachs with Fraud.")
Of the $550 million, $150 million will be paid to Deutsche Industriebank AG, and $100 million will go to Royal Bank of Scotland, which was "formerly known as ABN AMRO Bank N.V." according to the Goldman Sachs judgment. The balance, $300 million, will go to the SEC which must turn it over to the U.S. Treasury.
"Half a billion dollars is the largest penalty ever assessed against a financial services firm in the history of the SEC," said Robert Khuzami, Director of the SEC's Division of Enforcement. "This settlement is a stark lesson to Wall Street firms that no product is too complex, and no investor too sophisticated, to avoid a heavy price if a firm violates the fundamental principles of honest treatment and fair dealing."
In the Goldman Sachs Consent filed with the U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, Goldman Sachs acknowledged the following:
Goldman acknowledges that the marketing materials for the ABACUS 2007-AC1 transaction contained incomplete information. In particular, it was a mistake for the Goldman marketing materials to state that the reference portfolio was "selected by" ACA Management LLC without disclosing the role of Paulson & Co. Inc. in the portfolio selection process and that Paulson's economic interests were adverse to CDO investors. Goldman regrets that the marketing materials did not contain that disclosure.
The settlement will not be final until Barbara S. Jones, U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of New York approves it.
Comments? Please send them to kmcbride@wealthmanagerweb.com. Kate McBride is editor in chief of Wealth Manager and a member of The Committee for the Fiduciary Standard.
