In United States v. Tagliaferri, No. 15–536, the Second Circuit held that a conviction for investment adviser fraud, under section 206 of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, 15 U.S.C. § 80b–6 and 80b–17, requires only intent to deceive one’s clients, not intent to harm them as well.
Tagliaferri ran a boutique investment advisory firm where, the government alleged, he engaged in various deceptive practices, including taking kickbacks for investing client funds with particular entities, cross-trading between client accounts, and falsely characterizing investments as loans. The government charged Tagliaferri with, among other offenses, investment adviser fraud under section 206. At trial, Tagliaferri’s defense was that, despite his deceptive practices, he “always believed that he would be able to work things out so that his clients would not be harmed.” Accordingly, he sought a jury instruction that investment adviser fraud requires not only intent to deceive one’s clients, but …