Participants in the syndicated loan markets may have been relieved last month when the SEC declined to file the amicus brief requested by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in Kirschner v. JP Morgan Chase Bank. In an unusual turn of events, the SEC choose not to weigh
Investment Advisers
Second Circuit: Intent to Harm Is Not Required for Criminal Conviction Under Investment Advisers Act
By Jonathan Richman & Rachel Wolkinson on
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit yesterday affirmed the fraud conviction of a registered investment adviser and held that proof of intent to harm is not an element of a criminal conviction under section 206 of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, 15 U.S.C. §80b-6 (“IAA”). The court’s decision in U.S. v. Tagliaferri, No. 15-536 (2d Cir. May 4, 2016), distinguished between willfulness – the defendant’s knowledge that his or her conduct was unlawful – and intent to harm the victim of the crime.