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Path Cleared for Registered Representative-Owned PSEs To Receive Transaction-Based Compensation

By Richard M. Cutshall, William Mack, John P. Cleary, Michele A. Kulerman & Rachel Edwards on November 25, 2025
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SEC Office

On Nov. 17, 2025, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a No-Action Letter confirming that it will not recommend enforcement action if a registered representative-owned personal services entity (PSE) receives transaction-based compensation (TBC) without first registering as a broker-dealer (BD).

Link to Continue reading the full GT Alert. Continue reading the full GT Alert.

Photo of Richard M. Cutshall Richard M. Cutshall

Richard M. Cutshall is Co-Chair of the firm’s Financial, Regulatory and Compliance Practice, Co-Chair of the firm’s Private Funds Group, and Co-Chair of the firm’s Investment Management Group. Rich has experience representing clients in a variety of investment management, general securities, and corporate

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Richard M. Cutshall is Co-Chair of the firm’s Financial, Regulatory and Compliance Practice, Co-Chair of the firm’s Private Funds Group, and Co-Chair of the firm’s Investment Management Group. Rich has experience representing clients in a variety of investment management, general securities, and corporate matters, including the representation of mutual funds, ETFs, and other funds registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940; fund and ETF independent directors; unregistered investment funds; federally registered, state registered, and federally and state exempt investment advisers; broker-dealers; and an array of public and private companies.

Rich represents investment adviser clients at all stages of their life cycle, from concept and formation through registration, daily operation through wind-down and exiting the business, including representing investment adviser clients on both the buy-side and sell-side in M&A transactions. He also represents clients in all aspects of investment company practice, including organizing and forming new funds and ETFs, registering mutual funds and ETFs with the SEC, and the acquisition and merger of public funds.

In the course of representing investment advisers and public and private funds, Rich advises Greenberg Traurig’s clients on all aspects of securities regulatory compliance, particularly including new and existing SEC rules; SEC examination, regulatory, and investigative initiatives and sweeps; the SEC’s proposal, adoption, and implementation of new regulations, such as the recently rewritten investment adviser marketing rule; and finding compliance solutions related to the regulatory scheme applicable to investment advisers and investment funds, including implementing both novel and long-standing SEC regulatory guidance and interpretations. He also advises clients on the day-to-day aspects of corporate governance, board and adviser fiduciary responsibility, and SEC compliance, as well as assisting clients in all aspects of SEC and other regulatory examinations.

Rich has given presentations on and assists a variety of investment management clients with their compliance with anti-money laundering laws, and has performed annual independent third party audits of several clients’ anti-money laundering policies, programs and controls.

Rich also has experience representing clients in many industries in the sale or acquisition of businesses, formation of corporate entities, sophisticated contract negotiations, and in obtaining, renewing and renegotiating the terms of financing business operations. He routinely works with clients’ chief executive officers, chief financial officers, directors, and in-house general and assistant general counsels, including occasionally working from clients’ corporate headquarters upon request. Rich works with corporate and finance clients of all sizes, from startup family-run businesses and entrepreneurial endeavors to Fortune 500 clients. He also has experience representing clients across many industries, including health care, data management, retail product display and advertising design and manufacturing, industrial manufacturing, and real estate management and brokerage industries.

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Photo of William Mack William Mack

William B. Mack is a co-chair of the Financial Regulatory & Compliance Practice. He is experienced in advising companies on regulatory and compliance matters relating to the Securities and Exchange Commission regulations, the Exchange Act, Anti-Money Laundering laws and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority

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William B. Mack is a co-chair of the Financial Regulatory & Compliance Practice. He is experienced in advising companies on regulatory and compliance matters relating to the Securities and Exchange Commission regulations, the Exchange Act, Anti-Money Laundering laws and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) rules.

William’s practice involves all aspects of broker-dealer regulation, including Self-Regulatory Organization (SRO) membership, supervision, employment, research, soft dollar arrangements, chaperoning of foreign broker-dealers, social media, use of foreign finders, anti-money laundering rules, alternative trading systems (ATS), exchanges, and market making issues. He also provides regulatory guidance to investment banking clients in connection with securities offerings and related trading issues.

William advises firms in the FINRA new membership (NMA) and the continuing membership (CMA) processes. William assists firms to develop or amend their written supervisory procedures and compliance manuals.

William routinely represents clients who are negotiating placement agent agreements, foreign finders agreements, clearing agreements, agreements with registered representatives and expense-sharing agreements.

William assists broker-dealers and their associated persons to respond to regulatory examinations and inquiries and provides effective representation in a range of enforcement proceedings with the SEC, FINRA, NYSE, state and foreign regulatory authorities. He regularly prepares and defends witnesses in FINRA on-the-record interviews and SEC testimony. Enforcement matters have involved issues including market manipulation, supervision, customer defalcations, insider trading, anti-money laundering, distribution of unregistered securities, direct market access, market making, soft dollar arrangements, cross border trading, electronic intrusion and customer impersonation, sales practices, supervision, private placements, ETFs, indexes, and other securities products.

William regularly addresses questions with respect to what activities require or are exempt from broker-dealer registration. William assists firms in obtaining guidance, interpretive letters, and no-action relief from FINRA and the SEC with respect to novel securities issues and the creation of new products and services. William also advises clients on cryptocurrency, tokenization, NFTs, DeFi structures, and digital asset exchanges and trading.

Prior to joining the firm, William was a Principal Counsel for Enforcement at FINRA. Before FINRA, he was the Director of the Executive Secretariat in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. William also served as a Deputy Associate Counsel at the White House, advising primarily on appointments and investigations. Before the White House, he practiced at large firms in New York. William clerked for Judge Robert L. Carter in the Southern District of New York.

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Photo of John P. Cleary John P. Cleary

John P. Cleary, Co-Managing Shareholder of the San Diego office, represents public and private clients in a variety of corporate and securities matters. He focuses his practice on mergers and acquisitions, public and private securities transactions, franchise formation and compliance, and general corporate

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John P. Cleary, Co-Managing Shareholder of the San Diego office, represents public and private clients in a variety of corporate and securities matters. He focuses his practice on mergers and acquisitions, public and private securities transactions, franchise formation and compliance, and general corporate matters. John also works with private equity and investment firms on structure, formation, SEC compliance, and transactions.

In the realm of mergers and acquisitions, John represents private equity firms and other buyers in stock and asset transactions. He also assists companies and management in business sales, merger and acquisition transactions, and joint venture arrangements. For publicly held companies, John handles transactional matters including initial public offerings, secondary public offerings, registered direct offerings, and alternative go-public transactions such as reverse mergers.

John’s practice extends to counseling public companies on various aspects of securities law, including PIPE transactions, securities offerings, Rule 144 matters, SEC compliance and reporting, and general business matters. This approach allows John to support companies at various stages of growth, from early-stage startups to established public entities.

John also serves as outside legal counsel for startup and emerging growth companies, particularly in the technology and action sports/lifestyle industries. He guides these clients through formation, seed, and preferred stock financings, and ongoing corporate needs. John’s work in this area encompasses a wide range of services, from initial company setup to navigating complex funding rounds. Additionally, John represents companies in Regulation CF “crowdfunding” offerings and Rule 506(c) advertised offerings, providing guidance on these alternative capital-raising methods.

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Photo of Michele A. Kulerman Michele A. Kulerman

Michele A. Kulerman is a corporate attorney with wide-ranging law firm, in-house and government legal experience. Michele primarily advises clients and provides guidance on the legal and regulatory issues surrounding real estate and non-real estate securities offerings of debt and equity, including initial…

Michele A. Kulerman is a corporate attorney with wide-ranging law firm, in-house and government legal experience. Michele primarily advises clients and provides guidance on the legal and regulatory issues surrounding real estate and non-real estate securities offerings of debt and equity, including initial, follow-on and secondary offerings. She represents public and private companies on matters related to state securities or “blue sky” laws, registered and exempt, as well as compliance with the corresponding SEC rules and regulations and FINRA broker-dealer requirements in corporate financing.

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Photo of Rachel Edwards Rachel Edwards

Rachel C. Edwards is a member of the Corporate Practice in Greenberg’s San Diego office and represents private clients in a variety of corporate and securities matters with a focus on ongoing securities compliance and reporting obligations under the Investment Company Act of…

Rachel C. Edwards is a member of the Corporate Practice in Greenberg’s San Diego office and represents private clients in a variety of corporate and securities matters with a focus on ongoing securities compliance and reporting obligations under the Investment Company Act of 1940, corporate governance, and general transactional matters. Rachel has experience representing federally and state registered investment advisers, exempt reporting advisers, broker-dealers and private funds, providing guidance on formation and registration, corporate securities matters, and ongoing SEC and state-based compliance.

Rachel’s corporate practice also extends to counseling startup and private companies throughout their life cycle, including guiding clients through the formation process, managing their capitalization tables, assisting with seed and preferred stock financings, preparing and filing state securities filings, and advising clients with day-to-day corporate governance. Rachel has also helped clients navigate complex financings, including Regulation A, Regulation “CF” crowdfunding, and Regulation D offerings.

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  • Posted in:
    Banking, Finance and Securities
  • Blog:
    Financial Services Observer
  • Organization:
    Greenberg Traurig, LLP
  • Article: View Original Source

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