Friday, July 22, 2011

Calling All Wall Street Wives

I never really understood the popularity of the "wives" series of reality shows, except perhaps in the same way folks stare at gruesome car accidents, but maybe this will help. According to CNBC, casting is currently underway for "Wall $treet Wives," a new reality show that will feature the women behind the men on Wall Street.

According to a casting notice that went out earlier this week, women who wish to apply for the show should have "a fun and attractive personality," and be married or previously married to a man who worked on Wall Street. Do lawyers' wives count?

Calling All Wall Street Wives

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

SEC Raises Dollar Limits For Performance Fees

The SEC issued an order that raises, to adjust for inflation, two of the thresholds that determine whether an investment adviser can charge its clients performance fees. The order carries out a requirement of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.

Rule 205-3 under the Investment Advisers Act allows an investment adviser to charge a client performance fees if the client meets certain criteria, including two tests that have dollar amount thresholds. The SEC has now rasied the dollar amounts and now an investment adviser will be able to charge performance fees if the client has at least $1 million under the management of the adviser, or if the client has a net worth of more than $2 million. Either of these tests must be met at the time of entering into the advisory contract. The previous thresholds were $750,000 and $1.5 million respectively, and were last revised in 1998.

The Dodd-Frank Act requires that the Commission issue an order to adjust for inflation these dollar amount thresholds by July 21, 2011 and every five years thereafter. The Commission published a notice of its intent to issue the order on May 10, 2011. The Commission also proposed amendments to rule 205-3, which are currently under consideration.

The order will be effective on September 19, 2011, which will be approximately 60 days after its publication in the Federal Register.