Podcast: CFTC Issues LIBOR Transition Relief for Swaps
LEGAL ALERT: CFPB Issues Proposed Revisions to No-Action Letter Policy
Open for Business: SEFs Navigate the New Regulatory Environment
In our previous alert, Paying for Buy-Side Investment Research: Will the FCA’s Third Way Ease the US-UK Divide?, we discussed the consultation issued by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) on proposed rules on payment...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, specifically...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
Expiration of SEC Staff’s No Action Letters Providing Relief to Broker-Dealers Regarding MiFID II Research Requirements - On July 3, 2023, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) let expire a long-standing...more
The issue of when a person may be considered a “broker” or “dealer” and subject to registration as such under the federal securities laws, as distinguished from so-called finders (and therefore not subject to the panoply of...more
The narrower M&A broker exemption supersedes the 2014 M&A broker no-action letter while leaving state-level restrictions and foreign M&A broker relief unaffected. On March 29, 2023, the Securities Exchange Act of 1934...more
Nearly a decade ago, the SEC Staff issued a no-action letter that enabled investment bankers who limit their services to M&A transactions involving private companies to avoid broker-dealer registration with the SEC. The M&A...more
A new development has emerged in the series of changes to the regulation of finders (i.e., persons that receive compensation for making an introduction leading to a securities transaction) and mergers and acquisition brokers...more
In the client alert dated January 27, 2023, we described a recently enacted federal exemption (the “Exemption”) from SEC registration for Merger and Acquisition Brokers which meet the qualifications of amended Section 15(b)...more
On March 29, 2023, a new exemption from SEC registration for brokers providing services in mergers and acquisitions (“M&A”) transactions officially went into effect. The exemption, outlined in Section 501 of the Consolidated...more
On December 29, 2022, President Biden signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 (H.R. 2617) into law, providing a federal statutory exemption from securities law broker registration for merger and acquisition (M&A)...more
Effective March 29, 2023, certain small business brokers will be exempted from registering with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC). The new law was signed into effect on December 29, 2022, as part of the...more
As many are aware, Congress passed its own version of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) staff’s mergers and acquisitions (M&A) broker no-action letter in December 2022, creating a new exemption from broker...more
Brokers who specialize in the sale or purchase of private companies (“M&A Brokers”) have long been an uncomfortable fit under the rules applying to securities broker-dealers. M&A Brokers typically provide advisory services to...more
On December 29, 2022, President Biden signed H.R.2617, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 (the “Omnibus Bill”), that included a rider in Title V establishing a statutory exemption for certain mergers and acquisitions...more
On Sept. 16, 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted amended Rule 15c2-11 (the Amended Rule) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the Exchange Act). The Amended Rule, most of which became...more
The SEC’s Division of Trading and Markets issued a new no-action letter yesterday that removes the requirement that Rule 144A information be made publicly available prior to a broker-dealer publishing a quotation or...more
Interest in engaging in a crypto business seems to be at an all-time high, including doing so in or through regulated and compliant businesses in traditional financial services firms. Brokers-dealers sit atop that list....more
The staff of the US Securities and Exchange Commission division of Investment Management announced that it would allow its October 26, 2017 no-action letter to SIFMA to expire on July 23, 2023—raising questions about the...more
On April 16, 2021, the staff of the SEC Division of Trading and Markets reminded broker-dealers borrowing fully paid and excess margin securities from their customers (FPL programs) that they are obligated to comply with...more
At age 79, Paul Anka, the crooner and songwriter, is more relevant than ever. In 2020, he appeared on Season 4 of “The Masked Singer,” enjoyed a popular resurgence courtesy of TikTok, reworked his anthem “My Way” for the...more
The Staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Trading and Markets (Staff) issued a no-action letter to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority on September 25, 2020 (Letter), in which the Staff stated...more
Background- For many years, small businesses and other private issuers have struggled to connect with investors when seeking to raise capital in a private offering. The amount of money being raised was sometimes too small...more
SEC relief streamlines noncustodial settlement of digital asset trades, but broker-dealer custody is still off-limits. On September 25, 2020, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a no-action letter (the...more
The staff (“Staff”) of the Division of Trading and Markets of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a no-action letter (NAL) at the request of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) on...more