On September 14, 2022, the SEC announced a settled administrative order, also dated September 14 (“Order”), imposing penalties, including a $100,000 fine, on a registered broker (the “Broker”) for failing to (1)...more
On June 16, 2020, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) granted registered municipal advisors (MAs) a temporary, limited exemption (Exemption) from broker-dealer registration to the extent that they solicit banks...more
Regulatory Developments -
SEC Grants Exemption from Registration as a Clearing Agency to Two Matching Service Providers -
On Nov. 24 the SEC approved applications by Bloomberg STP LLC and SS&C Technologies, Inc....more
12/4/2015
/ Broker-Dealer ,
Comment Period ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
FinCEN ,
MSRB ,
Municipal Advisers ,
No-Action Letters ,
NYDFS ,
Registration Requirement ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Waiting Periods
Regulatory Developments -
MSRB Publishes Compliance Advisory for Municipal Advisors:
On Nov. 12 the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB) published its first municipal advisor compliance advisory, developed...more
11/19/2015
/ Brokered Deposits ,
Crowdfunding ,
Cybersecurity ,
Enforcement Actions ,
False Advertising ,
FDIC ,
FFIEC ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
MSRB ,
Municipal Advisers ,
NYDFS ,
Regulation NMS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
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:
DOL Releases Transcripts of Fiduciary Standard Hearings -
The Department of Labor (DOL) has released the transcripts of the hearings held by the agency in August on its proposed fiduciary...more
9/10/2015
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
Caesars ,
Comment Period ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Filing Requirements ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Financial Institutions ,
FinCEN ,
Indemnification ,
Meals-Gifts-and Entertainment Rules ,
MSRB ,
Municipal Advisers ,
Municipal Securities Issuers ,
New Guidance ,
Proposed Amendments ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Regulation A ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Swap Data Repositories ,
Transcripts
Ninth Circuit Denies Rehearing of Northstar v. Schwab. On April 28, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit denied the petition of Schwab Investments’ (Schwab) for rehearing and rehearing en banc in the case of...more
4/30/2015
/ 401k ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Convertible Debt ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Enforcement ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Insurance Industry ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Company Act of 1940 ,
Money Market Funds ,
Municipal Advisers ,
Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) ,
Petition for Writ of Certiorari ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Trustees
FINRA’s Retrospective Rule Review Process Continues. On April 16, FINRA announced that the FINRA Board of Governors had authorized FINRA to publish a regulatory notice requesting comment on proposed amendments to Rules 2210...more
4/23/2015
/ BlackRock ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Consumer Lenders ,
Credit Card Agreements ,
Cuba ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Federal Reserve ,
Filing Requirements ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
MSRB ,
Municipal Advisers ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Proposed Amendments ,
Quicken Loans ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
SIFIs ,
Supervision
In this issue:
- In preliminarily denying two exemption requests, the SEC takes a stand for market transparency in ETFs and upholds the arbitrage mechanism that allows market prices to closely track NAVs.
-...more
10/30/2014
/ ABS ,
Administrative Hearings ,
Arbitrage ,
Asset-Backed Securities ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Enforcement Actions ,
ETFs ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
FinCEN ,
Flood Insurance ,
Flood Zones ,
Money Services Business ,
Municipal Advisers ,
NAV ,
New Regulations ,
Private Equity Funds ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Risk Retention ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Transparency ,
Virtual Currency
Spotlight on the MSRB: In the Industry Developments section we report that the SEC, FINRA and the MSRB will be conducting a compliance outreach program for municipal advisors. The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board was...more
10/9/2014
/ CARDS ,
CPOs ,
ETFs ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Herbalife ,
Insider Trading ,
Investment Adviser ,
Municipal Advisers ,
NFA ,
Pay-To-Play ,
Public Comment ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
The SEC’s final Municipal Advisor Rules, effective January 13, 2014, apply to many of the advisory services and products provided by banks and trust companies to municipal entities, such as state and local governments, and to...more