Hello to all,

I have a couple friends who want to give me money to invest. Can anyone give me some pointers on the legal implications of this?

1) Any comments on whether I need licenses (used to have series 6 & 63, now lapsed)

You may need licenses. This is regulated at the state level. If you do need a license, a Series 6 license is not sufficient for investing directly in stocks.

2) I would be taxed at my marginal rate, and the friends are content with me taking 30%/15% of the top of short/long term gains. Aslong as everyone fills out gift tax forms for the IRS, is there any other taxable implications?

They're not giving you a gift...or if they are, it's a gift of the total investment principal and you are giving them a gift back of their net proceeds. Proceeding down this path will ultimately chew up all of your unified credits and subject your estates to unnecessary taxation.

Ira