FINRA Dispute Resolution filed with the SEC a proposed change to Code of Arbitration Rules 12214 and 12601 (and industry Rules 13214 and 13601) to increase late cancellation fees from $100 to $600 per arbitrator and expand...more
On February 3, the Department of Justice and 19 State Attorneys General announced their $1.375 Billion settlement of DOJ’s FIRREA suit and related State AG actions against Standard & Poor’s and its parent McGraw-Hill...more
On January 29, the Commission dismissed its insider-trading suit against Canadian analyst Jordan Peixoto in connection with his purchase of puts on the stock of Herbalife in advance of a negative hedge fund presentation on...more
The SEC and the Attorneys General of New York and Massachusetts this week fined Standard & Poor’s almost $77 million, suspended S&P from conduit-fusion CMBS ratings work for a year and imposed other undertakings, for...more
The SEC’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (“OCIE”) released its 2015 Exam Priorities January 13. Director Andrew Bowden’s annual list details OCIE’s subject of focus for the coming year....more
The SEC this week issued cease-and-desist orders against eight auditors, fining them $140,000 collectively, for violating auditor independence rules by preparing the very broker-dealer financials they were to audit....more
Earlier this month, the SEC used a “control-person” charge in a settled action against an elected municipal official in connection with municipal bond offering. Enforcement touted that “first” on the Monday after: “An...more
In an unusual three-page concurrence to a November 10 cert denial, Justice Scalia (joined by Justice Thomas) virtually called for a case that would subject the SEC’s insider-trading interpretations to scrutiny. Because courts...more
The SEC continues to ramp up its Enforcement efforts in the municipal-securities realm. The agency announced a series of settled actions on November 6....more
An October 27 letter from Rep. Maxine Waters and seven other House Democrats (from the Financial Services & Oversight Committee) asked the SEC to double down on scrutiny of employer confidentiality agreements that might...more
The SEC last week approved new MSRB Rule G-44 implementing supervision and compliance requirements for municipal advisors. The MSRB touted the Rule as “its first dedicated rule for municipal advisors” under the Dodd-Frank...more
The drumbeats of discontent grow louder against the SEC’s more frequent use of its internal administrative forum for enforcement cases. I wrote about the current spate of Constitutional challenges to the agency’s forum in an...more
Carlo DiFlorio, FINRA’s Chief Risk Officer and Head of Strategy, told the annual meeting of the National Society of Compliance Professionals Monday that FINRA is emphasizing efforts to mitigate market risks, even as it...more
State or local government entities, special tax districts, hospital districts and other municipal bond issuers face a December 1 deadline to respond to the SEC Enforcement Division’s “Municipalities Continuing Disclosure...more
On September 30, the D.C. District Court rejected two GOP state committees’ challenge to the SEC’s regulation prohibiting pay-to-play among investment advisors. Bowing to “curious” precedent in which words don’t mean what...more
The SEC’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (“OCIE”) announced August 19 a two-year, three-phase examination initiative targeting newly-registered municipal advisors. SEC Press Rel. 2014-170 (Aug. 19, 2014). ...more
The SEC recently announced another issuer settlement under its Continuing Disclosure Cooperation Initiative (see our blogs First Settled Proceeding (July 23, 2014). In this settled action, Kansas consented to the standard...more
Responding to industry complaints, the SEC’s Enforcement Division modified its Municipal Continuing-Disclosure Cooperation (“MCDC”) Initiative to (a) extend the deadline for issuer disclosures until December 1 (from September...more
On July 22, the SEC approved amendments to FINRA Rule 2081 that prohibit member firms from conditioning arbitration settlements (or seeking to) upon a customer’s assent to CRD expungement relief. The Rule amendments prohibit...more
The SEC announced July 8 its first settled administrative proceeding against a municipal issuer under its Municipal Continuing Disclosure Cooperation (“MCDC”) Initiative. In its Order, the SEC charged Kings Canyon Joint...more
The SEC recently made the unusual move of asking the Eleventh Circuit to publish its previously-unpublished per curiam decision in SEC v. Monterosso, 2014 WL 2922670 (11th Cir. June 30, 2014). The decision was not merely a...more
I wrote earlier that the SEC was wrong to extend its “admission of wrongdoing” policy (once reserved for extreme cases) to negligent software-glitch misreporting of trade-data in the Scottrade case...more
I recently wrote about Judge Rakoff’s refusal to enter the SEC’s proposed consent decree in SEC v. Citigroup Global Markets, Inc., 827 F. Supp. 2d 328 (SDNY 2011) – and the shift in SEC enforcement policy that it prompted. ...more
6/5/2014
/ Chevron Deference ,
Citigroup ,
Consent Decrees ,
Enforcement ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Interlocutory Appeals ,
Judge Rakoff ,
Risk Management ,
SEC v Citigroup ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Settlement
The SEC’s new MA Rules become effective July 1, 2014, 17 CFR 240.15Ba1-1 through 1-8 and 15Bc4-1. Required by Dodd-Frank § 975, the Rules were adopted last year, but the SEC postponed their implementation from January to...more
The SEC famously announced last year that it would insist upon admissions in settled cases involving egregious conduct – instead of its long-standing “neither admit nor deny” rubric. But its recent Scottrade action has the...more