Overview
Edwin (Ted) Charles Laurenson focuses his practice on investment management matters, including private investment funds, investment companies registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940 and the registration and compliance obligations of investment managers and the funds they manage under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, the Securities Act of 1933, the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Commodity Exchange Act (including related exemptions). In recent years, he has also focused on broker-dealer matters and the interpretation of the Volcker Rule’s restrictions on the activities of banking entities.
Ted’s experience covers the formation, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) registration (or exemption), offering, regulation and operation of public and private funds (including hedge funds and private equity funds) and their managers. He also advises on so-called “inadvertent investment company” issues under the Investment Company Act, filing and disclosure requirements that apply to securities investors and traders, broker-dealer regulation, the law of business trusts, partnerships and limited liability companies, securities lending, corporate “takeover” matters relating to publicly offered closed-end investment companies, securities and commodity law issues affecting bank-established funds and pension funds, and many other related areas of corporate, securities, commodities and banking law. Separately, he has a substantial background as a generalist securities and mergers and acquisitions lawyer.
Ted’s publications include book chapters and articles on the SEC’s custody rule under the Investment Advisers Act, private fund regulation, family offices, the regulation of private offerings and compliance considerations for banks dealing with hedge funds. As an active member of the Business Section of the American Bar Association (ABA), Ted has participated in preparing many ABA comment letters on proposed SEC regulations under the Investment Advisers Act and the Investment Company Act, and has served as a panel member in many ABA-sponsored and other legal education presentations, most recently concerning registration obligations under the Commodity Exchange Act.
Results
- Represents numerous hedge fund managers and their funds; among other matters, during the first half of 2015 he represented a fund manager in obtaining a no-action letter from SEC staff concerning the application of the SEC’s custody rule under the Investment Advisers Act
- Represented the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association in connection with the presentation of a proposed interpretation of the Volcker Rule “joint venture” exception to the Volcker Rule regulatory agencies
- Represents two major banks with respect to ongoing consultations concerning Volcker Rule matters relating to proprietary trading and covered funds
- Represented a major drug company in connection with the securities and commodities law aspects of developing and implementing in-house investment options for its defined contribution pension plans
- Developed an investment fund structure and related offering documentation for the umbrella organization serving physicians’ practice groups at a major hospital and continues to advise the organization as necessary
- Revised and redocumented the investment fund structure and related offering documentation for an investment fund offered by a religious denomination to its member congregations and affiliated organizations
Community
- American Bar Association, Business Law Section, including Federal Regulation of Securities Committee (subcommittees on Hedge Funds, and Investment Companies and Investment Advisers) and Institutional Investors Committee
- Institute on Religion in an Age of Science, Governing Council member and various officer positions for nearly 20 years, president 2008 to 2011
Credentials
Education
Yale University – Yale Law School, JD, 1975
Amherst College, BA, magna cum laude, 1972
Admissions
New York
