A bill that would provide a federal statutory exemption from the broker-dealer registration requirements under Section 15(a) of the Exchange Act for certain so called “M&A brokers” has been placed on the calendar for...more
A New York man has agreed to pay almost $4.5 million to settle charges by the SEC that he violated Section 15(a) of the Exchange Act by acting as an unregistered broker-dealer. According to the SEC, starting in 2010 Joshua A....more
On March 26, 2015, the SEC settled charges against 22 parties relating to arrangements by which companies not registered as broker-dealers purchased securities on behalf of Global Fixed Income, LLC (GFI) and received...more
The Broker-Dealer section of the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) has proposed a model uniform state rule (the “Model Rule”) that would exempt parties that act only as deal brokers in M&A...more
On January 6, 2015, FINRA released its 10th annual Regulatory and Examinations Priorities Letter in which it identified key areas of focus for FINRA investigations for 2015. Since the approval of FINRA Rule 5123 on June 7,...more
On June 23, 2014, the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) published a memo outlining several specific methods for verifying accredited investor status that SIFMA believes would satisfy the...more
The SEC recently settled an enforcement action against an individual alleged to have sold millions of dollars in securities on behalf of oil and gas companies without being associated with a registered broker dealer, as...more
FINRA Chairman and CEO Richard G. Ketchum gave a speech on April 9, 2013 as part of the National Compliance Outreach Program for Broker-Dealers....more
David W. Blass, Chief Counsel, Division of Trading and Markets, SEC, recently gave a speech before the American Bar Association Trading and Markets Subcommittee on April 5, 2013. The topic of the speech was whether and when...more
On February 5, 2013, the SEC released FAQs regarding Section 201 of the JOBS Act, which offers a new limited exemption from broker-dealer registration....more
We recently gave a presentation at a CLE titled Securities Law Essentials for Growing Companies. The presentation included an overview of what constitutes a public offering, what is a security, classical private placements,...more