SEC Chairman Walter Joseph “Jay” Clayton III confirmed earlier this week that he will be stepping down from his post by the end of December instead of June 2021, paving the way for President-Elect Joe Biden to appoint a successor in time for the start of the new administration. When he steps down, Clayton, a… Read More >>
Thesys Out as Plan Processor for CAT Project
The ambitious consolidated audit trail (CAT) industry project has suddenly moved into a new chapter with the revelation late last week that Thesys Technologies, acting as Thesys CAT, will be phased out as the plan processor for the SEC-mandated big data initiative. A transition is underway to designate a new plan processor to collect every… Read More >>
Traiana’s HKEX OTC Clear Link Targets FX Deliverables
New Link Targets FX Deliverables Traiana, an infrastructure services vendor for trading and risk management, is providing direct central clearing connectivity to the Hong Kong Exchanges (HKEXs) and Clearing’s OTC Clearing Hong Kong (OTC Clear), officials say. The news means that market participants can now access the OTC Clear service for USD/CNH and USD/HKD FX… Read More >>
Is the Fiduciary Rule Dead?
Whatever happened to what is known as the “Fiduciary Rule,” propagated by the U.S. Department of Labor? To recap: The Labor Department in 2017 was pretty much set to move ahead with the so-called “Fiduciary Rule,” on April 10. But the Trump team halted the rule’s implementation via an executive order, arguing that it needed… Read More >>
SEC Moves to Modernize Public Company Disclosures
The SEC has voted to make proposals that will “modernize and simplify disclosure requirements for public companies, investment advisers, and investment companies.” Those proposals will affect regulation S-K, which sets out public companies’ reporting requirements for annual reports and initial public offerings (IPOs), among other required public filings. The commission’s “proposed amendments would make adjustments… Read More >>
SEC Reassures Investors About Its Cyber Protections
In a surprising display of transparency, the SEC Chairman Jay Clayton last week acknowledged that the regulator’s EDGAR database had been hacked. To recap, SEC officials learned last month that “an incident previously detected in 2016 may have provided the basis for illicit gain through trading,” according to officials. The popular EDGAR platform, whose acronym… Read More >>
SEC Chairman Picks Key Policy Advisors
The SEC reports several additions to the executive staff of Chairman Jay Clayton, who was nominated to head the commission upon the advent of the Trump administration and was sworn in in early May of this year. The newest staff members are “his own people,” as one long-time observer of the commission recently put it…. Read More >>
SEC’s Clayton Clarifies Leadership for Enforcement
The SEC reports that Stephanie Avakian, acting director of the division of enforcement, and Steven Peikin, managing partner of Sullivan & Cromwell’s criminal defense and investigations group, have been named co-directors of the division of enforcement, the commission’s largest unit with more than 1,200 employees. Avakian will continue to work out of the SEC’s Washington,… Read More >>
