Introduction
While the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) brought
several enforcement actions in 2018-19, the most significant new
developments were published interpretations and alerts. Other
agencies, such as the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC),
also provided new guidance and brought significant enforcement
actions.
Fiduciary Interpretation
In June of 2019, the SEC adopted a new interpretation (the
"Fiduciary Interpretation") defining fiduciary duties for
investment advisers as consisting of a duty of loyalty and a duty
of care, requiring investment advisers to provide advice that is in
the best interests of the relevant client without putting the
adviser's interests ahead of the client's. The Fiduciary
Interpretation specifically defines the duty of loyalty, requires
precise disclosure regarding conflicts and establishes a duty of
care. For private fund and institutional clients, the Fiduciary
Interpretation acknowledges a difference between