On March 30, 2022, the SEC issued “Staff Bulletin: Standards of Conduct for Broker-Dealers and Investment Advisers Account Recommendations for Retail Investors” (SEC Retail Standards Bulletin). This guidance builds on prior...more
4/13/2022
/ Broker-Dealer ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Fiduciary-Standards ,
Investment ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investors ,
IRA Rollovers ,
PTEs ,
Regulation Best Interest ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Standard of Conduct
On July 13, 2021, the SEC announced charges against Stable Road Acquisition Company (“Stable Road”), its sponsor, SRC-NI, its CEO, Brian Kabot, Stable Road’s proposed merger target Momentus Inc.(“Momentus”), and Momentus’s...more
7/16/2021
/ Audits ,
CEOs ,
Enforcement ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investors ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Litigation ,
Securities Regulation ,
Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs)
Perhaps it is in the spirit of March Madness and bracketology, but the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC or Commission) recently acknowledged consideration of a proposal by a sports gambling company to allow...more
As the cannabis industry continues to evolve and generate capital raising and investment opportunities, the SEC Division of Enforcement will continue to closely keep watch and target the bad actors that new market...more
1/27/2021
/ Accounting ,
Bad Actors ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Cannabis-Related Businesses (CRBs) ,
Capital Raising ,
Compliance ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Futures ,
Insider Trading ,
Investors ,
Marijuana Related Businesses ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Supervision
Last week, on December 16, 2020, Chinese-based coffee chain Luckin Coffee Inc. (“Luckin”) agreed to a $180 million settlement with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). Luckin’s American Depositary...more
12/23/2020
/ Anti-Fraud Provisions ,
China ,
Compliance ,
Earnings Management ,
Financial Reporting ,
Foreign Entities ,
Foreign Issuers ,
Fraud ,
Investigations ,
Investors ,
Scienter ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Settlement ,
Supervision
What’s New, and Comings & Goings at the SEC -
What’s New: The SEC’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (“OCIE”) recently issued a Risk Alert titled “Select COVID-19 Compliance Risks and Considerations for...more
8/27/2020
/ Broker-Dealer ,
Business Continuity Plans ,
Compliance ,
Enforcement ,
Fees ,
Financial Transactions ,
Investment Fraud ,
Investors ,
OCIE ,
Risk Alert ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Supervision
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) will be looking for good faith compliance when it conducts examinations of Form CRS after the June 30, 2020 compliance...more
The college football bowl season is upon us, NFL teams are jockeying for playoff seeding, and with the college basketball season underway fans of that game are looking longingly towards March for how their brackets may look...more
12/17/2019
/ Broker-Dealer ,
Gambling ,
Investment Contract ,
Investment Fraud ,
Investment Schemes ,
Investors ,
Ponzi Scheme ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Violations ,
Sports Betting ,
Unregistered Securities
On September 9, 2019, the states of New York, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, New Mexico and Oregon, and the District of Columbia (collectively, the States) filed a complaint for declaratory and injunctive relief...more
9/11/2019
/ Arbitrary and Capricious ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Declaratory Relief ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Final Rules ,
Form CRS ,
Injunctive Relief ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Advisers Act of 1940 ,
Investment Management ,
Investors ,
Regulation Best Interest ,
Regulation BI ,
Retail Investors ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Standard of Conduct ,
Statutory Authority