...A recent decision in an SEC enforcement action against Coinbase, the largest crypto-asset trading platform in the U.S., provides some long-awaited guidance on a topic that has been the subject of considerable debate in the...more
In Frayce v. BMO Investor Line Inc. et al, 2023 ONSC 16 [Frayce], the Ontario Superior of Justice refused to certify a class proceeding brought by aggrieved investors to address the controversial practice of "trailing...more
FINRA issued a targeted-exam letter on February 20, 2020 seeking information on the effect of zero-commission trading upon compliance with related obligations of Best Execution, payment for order flow, and non-commission...more
The SEC charged fifteen individuals with acting as unregistered brokers or aiding-and-abetting such activity in connection with Intertech Solutions, Inc.’s fraudulent and unregistered securities offerings....more
The emissions cheating scandal that recently cost VW $4.3 billion and a mess of criminal indictments isn’t, it seems, confined to the Germans. We heard months ago about a similar probe into Mitsubishi, and yesterday we...more
This post continues our examination of the Department of Labor’s suite of final fiduciary and conflict of interest regulations. Our prior posts discussed the newly expanded definition of “investment advice fiduciary” and the...more
In an area of broker-dealer practices with relatively little guidance—the appropriate level of commissions or mark ups on securities trades—FINRA recently brought another in a series of cases that provides insight into the...more
Your good client, Avery Phillips, Chairman of the Board, calls you because he is considering engaging a friend, Tepper, to identify potential investors for his company. Phillips explains that Tepper has extensive business...more
On 25 November 2013, the U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority (the FCA) issued a consultation paper proposing new rules to clarify the circumstances in which U.K. asset managers can currently pay dealing commission (CP13/17)....more