The establishment of policies and procedures designed to monitor the outside business activities (“OBAs”) of supervised persons (i.e. officers, directors, partners, investment advisor representatives, and employees) should be part of every registered investment advisor firm’s written compliance programs. RIA Compliance Consultants, Inc. suggests that some type of “outside business activities form” be created and all supervised persons be required to complete the form on an annual basis and whenever changes are needed. A supervised person should disclose and seek approval of an outside business activity prior to engaging in the activity.

There are two important regulatory reasons for monitoring outside business activities: (a) Form ADV disclosure purposes, and (b) Form U4 disclosure purposes. A registered investment advisor is required to disclose to clients all potential and real conflicts of interests including outside activities of the firm and its related persons. Item 8 of Form ADV Part II outlines specific business activities or affiliations of the firm’s related persons that must be disclosed. These include affiliations with institutions such as banks, real estate brokers, and broker/dealers. Individuals listed under Item 6 of Form ADV Part II need to provide detailed business background for the preceding five years. Finally, Item 7.C. of the Form ADV Part II may require the registered investment advisor firm to provide a description of the supervised person’s outside activity and the amount of time spent on that activity.

In addition to disclosing outside activities on the Form ADV, investment advisor representatives (“IARs”) must disclose their employment history for the previous 10 years and their current outside business activity on the Form U4. It is the investment advisor representative’s ultimate responsibility to keep the Form U4 current and complete, particularly his/her employment and other business background.

Registered investment advisors need to be cognizant of the 30 day deadline for making material updates to the Form ADV and Form U4. Whenever an individual or firm’s outside business activities change, those activities need to be updated on the Form ADV and/or Form U4 within 30 days of the change.

Jarrod James, Vice President of RIA Compliance Consultants, will be the featured speaker during our webinar, “Addressing Outside Business Activities and Conflicts of Interest,” on Tuesday, September 15, 2009 from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. CST.

Purchase your webinar seat for $59.95:
www.RIA-Compliance-Consultants.com/webinars.