RopesTalk

Under normal circumstances, credit fund managers that invest retirement plan money face multiple fiduciary and conflict of interest issues under ERISA that require special attention. These issues have been amplified by the current global health emergency and related economic crisis. In this Ropes & Gray podcast, asset management partner Jessica O’ Mary and ERISA & benefits partner Josh Lichtenstein address how credit fund managers that invest on behalf of ERISA accounts can navigate some of these legal challenges as they arise in the current climate.

In this Ropes & Gray podcast, asset management partner George Raine is joined by tax partner Pamela Glazier to discuss the legal, tax and operational issues involved when 1940 Act registered interval funds invest in unregistered open-end real estate funds, as private fund managers look for new sources of capital, and registered fund managers look for alternative investments for their retail investor base.

In this Ropes & Gray podcast, asset management partner Isabel Dische is joined by tax partner Dan Kolb and asset management associate Adam Dobson to discuss preferred equity deals in the private funds context. Following a brief explanation of what these deals are, they share why a fund sponsor or an investor may want to pursue a preferred equity financing, and provide details on the structures and certain considerations for these deals that market participants may want to keep in mind.

In the second episode of Ropes & Gray’s podcast series, Culture & Compliance Chronicles, litigation & enforcement attorneys Tina Yu and Amanda Raad, who co-chairs the firm’s global anti-corruption and international risk practice, continue their conversation with Jules Colborne-Baber, a partner and forensic audit expert at Deloitte UK, and Richard Bistrong, CEO of Front-Line Anti-Bribery LLC, about behavioral science and compliance. The first part of their conversation focused on the importance of incorporating behavioral science in compliance programs. In part two, they turn their attention to the application of behavioral science in compliance testing and monitoring.

In this Ropes & Gray podcast, asset management partner Joel Wattenbarger and associate Gideon Blatt discuss the federal banking agencies’ proposed amendments to the Volcker Rule’s covered fund provisions. They address the existing landscape, the agencies’ notice of proposed rulemaking and the potential impact it may have on the asset management industry.

In this Ropes & Gray podcast, asset management partner Mike Doherty and counsel Laura Hirst discuss the 2009 Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility (TALF) program which the Fed established in response to the 2008-2009 financial crisis and, given current market conditions, what might be expected for the 2020 TALF program.

In this Ropes & Gray podcast, asset management partners Isabel Dische and Katie Waite discuss some of the reasons why the credit funds secondaries market has historically been smaller than the private equity secondaries market, and why and how that has been changing recently, including as a result of market declines triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Welcome to Culture & Compliance Chronicles, a new Ropes & Gray podcast series focused on the behavioral sciences approach to risk management. In this inaugural episode—part one of a two-part series—Ropes & Gray litigation & enforcement attorneys Amanda Raad and Tina Yu are joined by special guests Richard Bistrong, CEO of Front-Line Anti-Bribery LLC, and Jules Colborne-Baber, a partner and forensic audit expert at Deloitte UK, to take a deep dive into behavioral sciences and compliance, with a focus on how organizations can develop more effective tools to identify misconduct.

In this Ropes & Gray podcast, benefits partners Loretta Richard and Josh Lichtenstein discuss the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (also known as the CARES Act) in the context of 401(k) plans and other tax-qualified defined contribution retirement plans, including coronavirus-related distributions and loans that can be taken from qualified defined contribution retirement plans, the issues plan sponsors should focus on under the CARES Act, and other issues and challenges for plan sponsors to consider related to the coronavirus more generally.