The SEC and CFTC recently charged 11 large financial institutions and their affiliates for failing to collect, monitor, and preserve communications over WhatsApp and other messaging services. These settlements follow a...more
10/7/2022
/ Affiliates ,
CFTC ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Institutions ,
Government Investigations ,
Instant Messaging Apps ,
Investment Adviser ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Settlement ,
Social Media ,
WhatsApp
In 2020, the price of gold has jumped over 30 percent from $1,517 per ounce on January 3, 2020 to over $2,000 per ounce on August 6, 2020. The spike in the price of gold isn’t yet at the level reached in the 2017 Bitcoin boom...more
Regulatory Developments:
CFTC and NFA Staff Publish FAQs and Other Resources for Filing and Reporting on Forms CPO-PQR and CTA-PR -
On Nov. 5 the Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight of the CFTC...more
11/12/2015
/ CFTC ,
Chief Compliance Officers ,
Commodity Trading Advisors (CTAs) ,
CPOs ,
MSRB ,
NFA ,
Outsourcing ,
Risk Alert ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Voting Requirements ,
VPPA
Regulatory Developments -
SEC Proposes to Amend Administrative Proceedings Rules:
On Sept. 24 the SEC announced that it had voted to propose amendments to rules governing its administrative proceedings. The...more
10/1/2015
/ Administrative Proceedings ,
Bitcoin ,
Breach of Duty ,
Cease and Desist Orders ,
CFTC ,
Class Certification ,
Comment Period ,
De-Risking ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Excessive Fees ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Margin Requirements ,
MSRB ,
Municipal Securities Issuers ,
Proposed Amendments ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Regulation S-X ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Swap Execution Facilities ,
Wash Trades
Regulatory Developments -
NYDFS Announces Approval of First BitLicense Application from a Virtual Currency Firm:
The New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) announced Sept. 22 that it has approved...more
9/24/2015
/ Amended Regulation ,
Bitcoin ,
BitLicense ,
CFTC ,
Choke Point ,
Comment Period ,
Credit Ratings ,
Cuba ,
Cuban Assets Control Regulations (CACR) ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Embargo ,
Export Administration Regulations (EAR) ,
FDIC ,
Financial Institutions ,
Investment Company Act of 1940 ,
Material Disclosures ,
Meals-Gifts-and Entertainment Rules ,
Money Market Funds ,
MSRB ,
Municipal Advisers ,
NRSRO ,
NYDFS ,
NYSE ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
Press Releases ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Registered Investment Advisors ,
Sanctions ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Virtual Currency
Regulatory Developments:
CFTC Grants Temporary Registration as SEF to LedgerX Bitcoin Options Exchange and Clearing House -
On Sept. 10 the CFTC announced that it had issued an Order of Temporary Registration as a...more
9/17/2015
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank of New York (BNY) Mellon ,
Bitcoin ,
CFTC ,
Credit Suisse ,
CSBS ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Protection ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Goldman Sachs ,
Misleading Statements ,
NYDFS ,
Policy Statement ,
Professional Misconduct ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Risk-Based Approaches ,
Suspensions & Debarments ,
Swap Execution Facilities ,
Virtual Currency
Regulatory Developments -
CFTC Issues Proposed Amendments to Swap Data Recordkeeping and Reporting Requirements for Cleared Swaps:
On Aug. 19 the CFTC announced that it had voted to propose amendments to existing...more
8/27/2015
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
CFTC ,
Comment Period ,
Derivatives Clearing Organizations ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Financial Institutions ,
First Amendment ,
Government Officials ,
Investment Advisers Act of 1940 ,
NASD ,
OCIE ,
Pay-To-Play ,
Political Contributions ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Risk Alert ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Swap Data Repositories ,
Swaps
Regulatory Developments:
SEC Approves New Debt Research Rule and Amended Equity Research Rule -
On July 16, the SEC approved FINRA Rule 2241, which modifies and clarifies existing rules related to research analysts,...more
7/23/2015
/ Banking Sector ,
CFTC ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
FDIC ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Financial Institutions ,
OCC ,
Private Student Loans ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Seed Financing ,
Tibble v Edison Int ,
Volcker Rule
Regulatory Developments -
CFPB Outlines Guiding Principles for Faster Payment Networks:
On July 9, the CFPB released an outline of its guiding Consumer Protection Principles (Principles) for protecting consumers as...more
7/16/2015
/ BrokerCheck ,
CFTC ,
Comment Period ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Enforcement ,
Federal Register ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Fund of Funds ,
Investment Company Act of 1940 ,
New Regulations ,
No-Action Letters ,
Payment Systems ,
Proposed Regulation ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Tibble v Edison Int
Regulatory Developments -
FINRA Proposes Rule to Require Member Websites to Link to BrokerCheck:
FINRA has proposed an amendment to FINRA Rule 2210 to require each of a member’s websites to include a readily...more
7/2/2015
/ BrokerCheck ,
Brokers ,
CFTC ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Cybersecurity ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
FFIEC ,
FIfth Third Bancorp v Dudenhoeffer ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Investment Adviser ,
Margin Requirements ,
Material Nonpublic Information ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Statute of Limitations
SEC Focus on Disqualification Waivers. When negotiating a settlement of an SEC enforcement action against a registered financial services firm – or one that hopes one day to become registered – it is vital to consider the...more
3/19/2015
/ Banking Sector ,
CFTC ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Disqualification ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Regulation A ,
Regulation D ,
Safe Harbors ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
The Impact of Regulation on Community Banks: Harvard Study and Senate Banking Committee Hearing Highlight Differing Views. FDIC Director of Risk Management Supervision Doreen Eberley testified last week before the Senate...more
2/19/2015
/ Alternative Investment Funds ,
Alternative Mutual Funds ,
Bad Actors ,
Banking Sector ,
CFTC ,
Commodity Pool ,
Community Banks ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Municipal Securities Market ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Senate Banking Committee
Editor’s Note -
CFTC Commissioner Giancarlo Proposes “Pro-Reform Reconsideration” of the Swaps Trading Rules. On January 29, CFTC Commissioner J. Christopher Giancarlo published a whitepaper titled “Pro-Reform...more
The CFTC Exercises Expanded Jurisdiction Over Retail Transactions in Physical Commodities.
Title VII of the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010 amended the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) to add new authority over certain leveraged,...more
1/30/2015
/ Amended Legislation ,
CFTC ,
Class Action ,
Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) ,
Cuba ,
Cuban Assets Control Regulations (CACR) ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Investment Adviser ,
Pay-To-Play ,
Payment Systems ,
Proxy Advisors ,
Proxy Voting Guidelines ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Sanctions ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
Editor’s Note -
The Supreme Court Halts Challenge by Retailers to the Debit Card Interchange Fee Rules: On January 20, 2015, the Supreme Court denied certiorari to a challenge by retailers to debit card interchange fee...more
1/22/2015
/ CFTC ,
Commodity Trading Advisors (CTAs) ,
CPOs ,
Debit Cards ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Federal Reserve ,
Interchange Fees ,
Investment Adviser ,
National Futures Association ,
Proxy Season ,
Retailers ,
S&P ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Security-Based Swaps ,
Shareholder Proposals
Editor’s Note:
FINRA Rulemaking: In this issue we report on three recent FINRA rule amendments. The first amends the NASD rule on the use of customer account statements to require that member firms use more accurate...more
1/8/2015
/ Amended Regulation ,
Broker-Dealer ,
CFTC ,
Commodity Trading Advisors (CTAs) ,
CPOs ,
Family Offices ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Futures Commission Merchants (FCMs) ,
NASD ,
NYSE ,
REIT ,
Securities ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
Editor’s Note -
Spotlight on FINRA Retrospective Rule Review: On December 9, FINRA announced it had issued reports on its retrospective review of two groups of rules – a report on the rules on communications with the...more
12/11/2014
/ ACH Payments ,
Banking Sector ,
BSA/AML ,
CFTC ,
Commodity Trading Advisors (CTAs) ,
CPOs ,
Examination Manual ,
FDIC ,
FFIEC ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Foreign Banks ,
Guidance Update ,
Information Reports ,
NACHA ,
NFA ,
OCC ,
Rare Earth Metals ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Supervision ,
Transparency
The SEC’s Semiannual Regulatory Agenda. The Federal Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs posted the SEC’s most recent Semiannual Regulatory Agenda which, in compliance with the Regulatory Flexibility Act, identifies...more
12/5/2014
/ Administrative Hearings ,
Brokers ,
CFTC ,
CPOs ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Disgorgement ,
HSBC ,
Investment Adviser ,
Prejudgment Interest ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Small Business
Editor’s Note:
Bank Regulators Again Looking at Incentive Compensation and Excessive Risks. Federal Reserve Board Governor Daniel Tarullo and New York Federal Reserve President William Dudley spoke on October 20 at a...more
10/23/2014
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitrators ,
Banks ,
CFTC ,
CPOs ,
DSIO ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Falsified Documents ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Insider Trading ,
No-Action Relief ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
In This Issue: The CFTC provided long-awaited exemptive relief for commodity pool operators that wish to offer their funds in private offerings using general solicitation under Rule 506(c) of the SEC’s Regulation D. ...more
9/18/2014
/ CFTC ,
Commodity Pool ,
Compliance ,
CPO ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Enforcement ,
Enforcement Actions ,
OCIE ,
Private Offerings ,
Regulation D ,
Rule 506(c) ,
Securities Act of 1933 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Swap Dealers ,
Swaps