Legal & Regulation

The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has issued an order filing and settling charges that, over an 18-month period, Morgan Stanley & Co LLC (Morgan Stanley), a registered futures commission merchant (FCM), unlawfully executed, processed, and reported numerous off-exchange futures trades to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) and Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) as exchanges for related positions (EFRPs). »

The Securities and Exchange Commission has amended its complaint against New York investment adviser, Brian Raymond Callahan, and Callahan’s investment advisory firms, Horizon Global Advisors Ltd, and Horizon Global Advisors, LLC, in the SEC’s emergency action filed on 5 March, 2012 that halted an ongoing USD90 million Ponzi scheme. »

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has provided an update on the work relating to the collapse of Trio Capital. »

By Olivier Sciales of Chevalier & Sciales – The Alternative Investment Management Association has published an analysis of the divergences it has identified between the European Commission’s draft Level 2 regulation implementing the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive and the technical advice provided to the Commission last November by the European Securities and Markets Authority. »

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has published a decision notice indicating that it has decided to fine Alberto Micalizzi GBP3 million and ban him from performing any role in regulated financial services for not being fit and proper. This is the FSA’s largest fine for an individual in a non market abuse case. »

The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged a Miami-based hedge fund adviser for deceiving investors about whether its executives had personally invested in a Latin America-focused hedge fund. »

A recent decision of the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands (the Court) in the case of FIA Leveraged Fund has laid down, for the first time, the principles applicable to an in specie (or in kind) distribution of fund assets to investors. »

A withholding tax ruling expected from the European Court of Justice (ECJ) could lead to investment funds receiving a EUR4.2bn tax rebate, says Deloitte, the business advisory firm. »

LCH.Clearnet Limited’s interest rate swap clearing service, SwapClear, has announced in increase in buy-side cleared volumes of 175% y-o-y to April 2012. »

Eze Castle has released a new white paper providing an in-depth examination of the challenges that Form Private Fund (Form PF) regulation poses to hedge funds. It also looks at the factors that customers should consider when making technology decisions for filing and data management. »