Paul Atkins, who has been nominated by President Trump to serve as Chairperson of the Securities & Exchange Commission, last week completed a short confirmation hearing before the U.S. Senate Banking Committee. Despite its...more
On February 28, 2025, House Financial Services Committee Chairman French Hill (R-AR), Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott (R-SC), and Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) sent a letter (the “Letter”) to Securities and Exchange...more
In an opinion post for a16z crypto, Latham lawyer Jenny Cieplak calls for a new regulatory approach for tokenized securities. A significant number of projects over the past several years have “tokenized” so-called real...more
A coalition of 23 Republican AGs, led by Arkansas AG Tim Griffin, filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in American Securities Association v. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission...more
Welcome to the latest issue of Bracewell’s FINRA Facts and Trends, a monthly newsletter devoted to condensing and digesting recent FINRA developments in the areas of enforcement, regulation and dispute resolution. We dedicate...more
FINRA recently published its 90-page 2024 Annual Regulatory Oversight Report (Report) providing member firms with insight into six primary topics: Financial Crimes, Crypto Asset Development, Firm Operations, Communications...more
On October 13, 2023, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted new Rule 10c-1a under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (1934 Act), requiring certain persons to report securities loan information to...more
On October 13, 2023, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) adopted new Rule 10c-1a (the “Securities Lending Rule”), requiring the reporting of certain securities lending transactions. Certain material terms of...more
On October 13, 2023, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) adopted final rules requiring the reporting and disclosure of short sale trade data information. New Rule 13f-2 implements new obligations on...more
Editor's Note - The following newsletter provides a roundup summarizing enforcement actions, guidance, rulemakings, and other public statements taken by a federal and/or state financial services regulatory agency,...more
On August 16, Instinet, LLC (Instinet or the Firm) agreed to pay a $3.8 million fine to settle an enforcement action with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) regarding its alleged failure to comply with...more
Here are curated AG and federal regulatory news stories highlighting key areas in which state and federal regulators’ decisions are having an impact across the US: •States Want California To Leave Their Bacon Alone- •AGs...more
A group of eight Republican AGs wrote a letter to Congressional leaders asking them to support the Protecting Investors’ Personally Identifiable Information Act, which was introduced by Republican Congress members in response...more
During FINRA’s 2023 Annual Conference held on May 16-18, 2023, several panels provided insight into how FINRA is currently using CAT data for market surveillance and how FINRA plans to use the data going forward to both...more
On May 17, 2023, as part of FINRA’s 2023 Annual Conference, staff from FINRA’s Market Regulation and Member Supervision Departments, along with representatives from FINRA CAT, participated in a panel entitled “Consolidated...more
Yes, (somehow) it is that time of year again. FINRA recently released its 2023 Report on its Examination and Risk Monitoring Program (the “Report”). As is typical (and this blog has well-covered), it contains a mix of old and...more
On January 10, 2023, FINRA issued its 2023 Report on FINRA’s Examination and Risk Monitoring Program to provide “insight into findings from the recent oversight activities of FINRA’s Member Supervision, Market Regulation and...more
In a recent update to Rule 17a-4, the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) stepped fully into the 21st century by dropping the requirement that electronic records be stored in a “write once, read many” or WORM format....more
The SEC recently adopted new recordkeeping requirements for broker-dealers and “SBS entities” (security-based swap dealers and major security based swap participants). Most notably, the SEC will no longer require...more
In February 2022, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) released the 2022 Report on FINRA’s Examinations and Risk Monitoring Program. This annual document aims to provide guidance to the broker-dealer industry....more
A common phrase to abide by in the New Year is “out with the old, in with the new.” FINRA’s 2022 Report on its Examination and Risk Monitoring Program (the “Report”), however, contains a combination of old and new priorities....more
On Feb. 25, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed several new rules with the goal of increasing transparency around short selling. Rule 13f-2 would require institutional investment managers (Managers)...more
On February 25, 2022, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission issued a proposal—Short Position and Short Activity Reporting by Institutional Investment Managers (the Proposal)—that would require certain institutional...more
On February 25, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) voted to amend the Consolidated Audit Trail (“CAT”) and Regulation SHO, as well as to propose new rules that would require short sale reporting....more
FINRA adds new topics for 2022 and new material to previously covered topics. Overview - On February 9, 2022, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (“FINRA”) published its 2022 Report on FINRA’s...more