"SEC Charges Five Investment Advisers For Violations Of Client Asset Safeguarding Requirements"

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced today that they have charged five investment advisers with various violations related to the safekeeping of client assets and timely filing of SEC disclosures concerning audits of their private fund clients' financial statements. The five advisory firms affected were Lloyd George Management (HK) Limited; Bluestone Capital Management LLC; The Eideard Group, LLC; Disruptive Technology Advisers LLC; and Apex Financial Advisors Inc. All five agreed to settle the SEC's charges and pay more than $500,000 in combined penalties for failing to comply with various requirements which included not performing audits; delivering audited financials to investors in a timely manner; ensuring a qualified custodian maintained client assets; promptly filing amended Forms ADV to reflect they had received audited financial statements; and properly describing the status of its financial statement audits. An investigation was conducted by staff from the SEC’s Enforcement Division’s Asset Management Unit and the Division of Examinations.