Miller Canfield lawyers co-author securities article

Miller Canfield securities lawyers Michael P. Coakley and Matthew P. Allen recently co-authored, "The New Form ADV Part 2 and the 'Plain English' Movement of the SEC, FINRA, and Michigan's OFIR, in the Spring 2011 Michigan Business Law Journal, a publication of the State Bar of Michigan. The article examines the changes to Part 2 of the Form ADV by the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC). The SEC, Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), and Securities Division of the Michigan Office of Financial and Insurance Regulation (OFIR) seek disclosures to financial customers that are written in "plain English." "By examining the details of the new Form ADV Part 2 designed by the SEC, the article provides some practical definition to what the SEC means by 'plain English,' and an outline of the new Form ADV Part 2 requirements for advisers and their lawyers," said Coakley and Allen. Coakley practices commercial litigation including securities, fraud, unfair competition, trade secrets, trademarks, trade names, commercial transactions, banks and banking, and insurance. He is an arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association (including International) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, and is a case evaluator for the Wayne County Circuit Court and the Oakland County Circuit and District Courts. He also serves as private mediator in civil matters. He received his J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School and his B.A. from Richard Stockton State College. He resides in Bloomfield Hills. Allen is a business, securities, and intellectual property litigator and trial lawyer who assists businesses, executives, broker dealers, and investment advisers in an array of SEC, FINRA, OFIR and other governmental-related inquiries, examinations, investigations and enforcement actions. Allen is co-chairman of the Broker Dealer and Investment Adviser sub-committee of the ABA Securities Litigation Committee. He received his J.D. from Wayne State University Law School, where he served as Editor-in-Chief of the Wayne Law Review, and his B.A. from the State University of New York College at Fredonia. He also served as a judicial law clerk in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. He resides in Troy. Published: Tue, May 17, 2011