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Equal Pay, Minimum Wage, and the Newest Colorado Employment Laws

By Larry Lee Colorado lawmakers have had a busy legislative session. Six new employment laws were enacted in the state addressing equal gender pay, criminal history inquiries, felony convictions for wage violations, local government rule for minimum wage, garnishments and a study of a family and medical leave insurance program. Here’s the highlights and effective […]

SEC Adopts Regulation Best Interest: New Standards for Broker-Dealers

By Dave Thayer   Doing business has become riskier for broker-dealers giving investment advice. On June 5, 2019, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted “Regulation Best Interest” which in a nutshell says that broker-dealers cannot put their own pocketbooks ahead of their clients’ “best interest.” For years, broker-dealers were viewed as purveyors of investment […]

SEC proposes new public company disclosure rules

By Dave Thayer On May 3, 2019, the Securities and Exchange Commission proposed amendments to improve and streamline financial disclosures relating to business acquisitions and dispositions. The proposed amendments are primarily to rules contained in Article 11 of Regulation S-X, but include changes to other related rules and disclosures, such as Form 8-K. The SEC […]

Jones & Keller Announces 2019 Executive Changes

Charles Wern becomes president and Paul Vorndran and Nicole Westbrook join the Executive Committee at the Denver-based business law firm.

New SEC Rules Modify and Simplify Regulation S-K

By Reid A. Godbolt The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) recently adopted amendments (available at https://www.sec.gov/rules/proposed/2017/33-10425.pdf) to its Regulation S-K and related rules and forms in seeking to modernize and simplify disclosure requirements for public companies, investment advisers and investment companies. The amendments are intended to improve the readability and navigability of disclosure documents and […]

14 Jones & Keller Attorneys Named to the Super Lawyers and Rising Stars Lists

Please join us at Jones & Keller in congratulating attorneys selected to this this year’s lists.

Annuities Sellers Beware: Advice May Trigger Enforcement

By Paul L. Vorndran Selling an annuity while advising investors about their securities investments will subject you to enforcement action by the Colorado Securities Commissioner. In the summer of 2018, the Colorado Securities Commissioner (Commissioner) adopted a rule which provides that an insurance agent who receives commissions from the sale of insurance products, where the […]

Investment or Financial Professional Titles: Making Sense of It All

(Originally published December 1, 2015) By Paul L. Vorndran Deciding upon whom to trust to deliver accurate and fair advice is an investor’s first difficult decision. In the investment world, a number of titles may be used by a professional offering various investments. But most of these are marketing tools issued by various organizations, and […]

ETF Recommendations Under Scrutiny

(Originally published December 1, 2015) By Paul L. Vorndran Regulators have been warning investors about investing in Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs), a unit investment trust or open-end investment company whose shares represent an interest in a portfolio of securities that track an underlying benchmark or index.  In June 2009, those warnings were directed to broker-dealers and […]

Reid Godbolt Awarded the “Lifetime Achievement Award” by the Catholic Lawyers Guild of Colorado

Jones & Keller is pleased to announce that Reid A. Godbolt has been awarded the 2019 Lifetime Achievement Award by the Catholic Lawyers Guild of Colorado. The Lifetime Achievement Award is bestowed upon an attorney who has demonstrated outstanding lifetime contributions to religion, profession and country. “I am humbled and honored by this award and […]

Colorado Rejects Williamson “Presumption”

(Originally published December 1, 2015) By Paul L. Vorndran A panel of the Colorado Court of Appeals issued an opinion giving the Colorado Securities Commissioner a victory in a long standing effort to regulate joint ventures and general partnerships. In Rome v. HEI Resources, Inc. et al, 2014 CA 160, the Court first held that there is […]

Jones Keller Advises The Star-Journal Publishing Company in the Sale of The Pueblo Chieftain

Colorado Investment Adviser Revoked for Non-Securities Transactions

(Originally published December 1, 2015) By Paul L. Vorndran As a cautionary tale, Colorado licensed investment advisers should be mindful that non-securities transactions with their clients will be scrutinized by the Colorado Divisions of Securities. In December 2013, Secure Retirement Group, Inc. doing business as Secure Financial Group, Inc. and its principal, David L. Gonzales, […]

Colorado Securities Commissioner Loses Important Case Interpreting Definition of ‘Security’

(Originally published December 1, 2015) by Paul Vorndran Denver District Court recently determined that oil and gas joint venture interests promoted by Colorado companies HEI Resources, Inc. and Heartland Energy Development Corporation were not securities under the Colorado Securities Act. On October 17, 2013 following an intensely contested case brought by the Colorado Securities Commissioner, […]

Definition of ‘Note’ in Colorado Securities Act Limited

(Originally published March 17, 2016) by Paul L. Vorndran The Colorado Court of Appeals reversed a criminal conviction for securities fraud pursuant to C.R.S. § 11-51-501(1)(b) finding the trial court erred in refusing to give a proffered instruction that not all promissory notes are securities for purposes of the Colorado Securities Act (CSA).  In People v. Mendenhall, […]