In a litigated case, the SEC charged Parker Terrill Austin and his investment advisory firm, Embarcadero Capital Advisors, Inc., with fraud related to his efforts to obtain clients for his new firm while employed at a different investment advisory firm. According to the SEC complaint, Austin sent to his personal email nonpublic personal information belonging to his then-employer’s clients, including names and account balances, and directed clerical employees to send to his personal email client nonpublic personal information, including names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, account values, and fees charged. On at least one occasion, according to the complaint, Austin forwarded the information to his future business partner at Embarcadero. The SEC noted that Austin was terminated from his former employer for placing a client in investments that were contrary to the client's instructions. Shortly after being terminated, Austin launched his advisory firm, Embarcadero, and, as alleged in the complaint, engaged in a scheme to fraudulently induce clients to join Embarcadero, misrepresenting Austin’s disciplinary history and termination at his prior firm on Embarcadero’s website and other publicly available informational brochures Embarcadero filed with the SEC. While these facts are egregious, as investment advisers approach the compliance date for amendments to Regulation S-P, it is important to focus on controls and protections to ensure that neither the firm nor its employees misuse personal information of clients or investors for their own benefit.