A federal jury in Los Angeles recently convicted the former CEO of Ontrak Inc. (a publicly traded company), Terren Peizer, for engaging in an insider trading scheme using Rule 10b5-1 trading plans. The insider trading...more
On July 5, 2023, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals issued an injunction that raises a challenge to FINRA’s authority to use FINRA-appointed hearing officers to conduct enforcement proceedings. The injunction enables Alpine...more
It’s not just the New York Yankees that wish they could put the summer behind them. We previously wrote about the shocking blow the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals dealt FINRA in early July by enjoining the self-regulatory...more
A DC Circuit Court of Appeals challenge to a recent Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) enforcement action brings into question whether FINRA should be held accountable to constitutional restrictions on state...more
The latest delay for the FINRA Rule 4210 amendments regarding covered agency transactions —originally approved in the summer of 2016—should serve as a cautionary tale regarding the outer limits of self-regulatory organization...more
On March 28, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed rules (Proposal) that would require certain market participants to register as broker-dealers or government securities dealers, and potentially be subject to...more
In a recent interview with CNBC, FINRA Chair Eileen Murray forcefully made the case for increased government regulation of environmental, social and governance (ESG) disclosures by public companies. Citing concerns with the...more
The first 10 years of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's Rule 15c3-5, known as the market access rule, have been a textbook example of the principle of regulation by enforcement, resulting in an informal patchwork...more
In the wake of severe market volatility resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, self-regulatory organizations and government agencies continue to provide guidance analyzing and interpreting the effects of the pandemic on market...more
The Situation: The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's ("SEC") Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations ("OCIE") issued its 2020 examination priorities ("Exam Priorities"). The Result: The Exam Priorities...more
U.S. Developments - Regulatory Developments - SEC and FINRA Issue Joint Statement on Digital Asset Custody Issues - On July 8, 2019, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial Industry...more
BROKER-DEALER - FINRA Proposes Data Service for Corporate Bond New Issues - The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission a proposed rule change to establish a...more
Despite the recent setback of having their Bitcoin ETF rejected by the SEC for the second time, the Winklevoss brothers remain undeterred in their efforts to bring cryptocurrency into the investment mainstream. Their...more
The D.C. Circuit on October 13, 2017, issued an order remanding to the SEC a question involving an application of the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Kokesh v. SEC: whether FINRA’s imposition of a lifetime bar on a...more
The SEC’s pay-to-play rule has given advisers reason to worry about potential foot faults since its adoption. As we have noted in prior posts, the rule is filled with landmines and is therefore difficult to navigate. As was...more
On Monday, November 2, 2015, Andrew Ceresney, Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement, gave a speech at the SIFMA Compliance & Legal Society New York Regional Seminar in which he sought to address what he views as the...more