Registered consultants who have custody or discretion over clients` money or securities, or who require an advance payment of more than $1200 in consulting fees six months or more in advance, must immediately disclose to clients and potential clients any financial conditions that may compromise their ability to fulfil their contractual obligations to their clients. However, at least for in-house attorneys, there are no explicit SEC requirements, which must contain such an agreement. From a conceptual point of view, this written agreement could simply be a signed letter of offer of employment or an employment contract itself describing the nature of the participation in turnover, bonus or other remuneration of the in-house lawyer for his client creation activities. With an increasingly competitive environment to attract new clients, especially those with considerable portfolios that can be managed, more and more consulting firms are starting to spend money on their business development efforts. Either to take care of outbound marketing and advertising, to organize “customer evaluation sessions” that encourage existing customers to bring a friend to refer, to establish relationships with centers of influence that can give recommendations. or simply pay directly for recommendations with prior cash or ongoing revenue participation agreements. 4 There are exceptions to this requirement. For example, a consultant is not required to prepare regular statements of accounts for a registered investment company or limited partnership (or any other type of grouped vehicle) that is audited at least once a year and distributes to all investors its audited accounts, prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting standards. generally within 120 days of the end of the fiscal year (as per Rule 206(4)-2). The advertisement must not be false or misleading and must not contain false statements about an essential fact. Advertising, like all statements made to consulting clients and interested parties, is subject to the general prohibition of fraud (Section 206 as well as other anti-fraud provisions of federal valuable documents laws). are expressly prohibited: testimonies; the use of previous specific recommendations, which were cost-effective, unless the advisor provided a list of all recommendations made in the past year; a presentation indicating that each chart, diagram or formula can be used in itself to determine which securities should be bought or sold; and ads that say every report, analysis, or service is free unless it`s really free. As a registered investment advisor, you must submit an annual update of Part 1A of your registration form (Form ADV) via the Investment Advisor Registration Deposit (P&T).” You must submit an annual amendment to your ADV form within 90 days of the end of your fiscal year.
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