Our attorneys provide comprehensive legal representation to investment advisers, investment companies, fund fiduciaries, broker dealers, insurance companies and other multi-service financial institutions engaged in the investment management business.
Regulatory Matters
We prepare and enforce compliance policies and procedures that are responsive to the interests of investors and will help you serve them better. We offer both anticipatory and remedial counsel to comply with federal and state regulation of investment advisers and broker dealers, ERISA fiduciary requirements, securities and commodity futures market regulations, anti-money laundering and consumer privacy regulations, and with performance and advertising standards established by the SEC and FINRA.
Product Development
Our lawyers have a wealth of knowledge and experience with mutual funds, hedge funds, private equity funds, real estate funds, closed-end funds, registered and unregistered funds of funds, exchange-traded funds, ERISA accounts, wrap accounts and separate accounts. You can rely on us for every aspect of product development, from tax structuring and entity formation to registration requirements and registration exemptions. We add value by taking the time to understand both the regulatory environment you are in and the objectives of your advisory engagement. Part of our process is ensuring that we understand the compliance system you have in place and how the proposed investment product will mesh with it. We also seek to understand the investment strategy for the product, not just to get the investor disclosure right, but also to make sure the fund is properly structured and positioned to execute it.
Transactions
We also provide counsel for investment-specific transactions. Our experience includes derivatives, investments in private placements of securities and secondary trades of distressed debt. We also support investment managers and other fund fiduciaries through the entire process of debt restructurings, corporate reorganizations and capital recoveries. As business entities themselves, investment managers also require both corporate and regulatory counsel for joint ventures, strategic alliances, mergers, reorganizations, acquisitions and divestitures.
Litigation
Our attorneys can provide counsel in litigation and arbitration proceedings relating to securities, derivatives and other investment transactions, and we can help you with informal SEC staff inquiries made during periodic compliance audits, and in formal enforcement and investigatory proceedings. Herrick attorneys have in-depth experience in every aspect of litigation, including class actions, and can represent you in multiple jurisdictions at the state and federal level.
Registered Investment Companies
We represent registered investment companies, their boards, investment advisers, principal underwriters and various service providers. We organize and represent mutual funds, closed-end funds, hybrid funds, leveraged fixed income funds, high-risk high-yield funds and loan funds. Investment company fiduciaries also rely on us for our experience in corporate governance, distribution arrangements for mutual fund shares, conflict of interest resolution, evolving compliance requirements and other areas of intense regulatory scrutiny.