SIFMA wants Congress to shake up the legal framework for securities exchanges. This is because some key federal securities laws are preserving advantages for exchanges but may be harming investors, says Ellen Greene, SIFMA managing director, equity and options market structure, in her recent testimony before Congress. But there are ways to fix the situation,… Read More >>
SEC Advances Climate Risk Disclosure Rules
As many expected it would, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is pushing for new rules that will require public companies to report more details about the climate-related risks that could “have a material impact on their business, results of operations, or financial condition.” But not everyone is on board with this move, including a… Read More >>
SEC Gets Serious About Cybersecurity Risks
We know that Vladimir Putin commands an army of hackers that he’s unleashed before — to interfere in American elections and to spread social-media disinformation. The current media and intelligence-services consensus is that — in the wake of the multiple economic sanctions imposed on him and his henchmen over the war against Ukraine — he’s… Read More >>
A Whistleblower’s $14M Payday & Other News Briefs
Whistleblower Led SEC to Ongoing Fraud A whistleblower that published an online report about “an ongoing fraud” wound up with a $14 million payday from the SEC, according to the latest award announcement from the regulator. The whistleblower went to the SEC after posting the report “and was persistent in reaching out to the staff,… Read More >>
CNR & SEC Settle Client Fraud Charges for $30M
Boutique registered investment adviser City National Rochdale (CNR) will pay more than $30 million to settle charges that its “undisclosed conflicts of interest defrauded current and prospective clients,” the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reports. The $30 million-plus from CNR will be placed into an SEC fund for distribution to “harmed investors.” SEC officials… Read More >>
E.U. Leads U.S. in ESG Regulatory Guidance: Report
A new report just might provide a reality check for the recent commentary about climate change, the financial services industry, and regulators in America and around the world. But there’s a catch. According to the report, the United States “has a number of significant financial regulators and a far more complex regulatory landscape than the… Read More >>
Congress Mulls Banning Itself from Trading Stocks
Remember that time in 2020, when the pandemic was just beginning and its dangers were not yet widely appreciated? That was when a group of United States Senators received closed-door briefings on the imminent crisis presented by COVID-19. What did these senators do right after their secret briefings? Alert the mostly unsuspecting public? Nope. They… Read More >>
SEC Advances T+1 via Proposed Rules Changes
The SEC has given a major boost to the movement to shorten settlement times in U.S. equities markets from T+2 to T+1 via a vote this week to formally propose rule changes that tighten clearing and settlement time-frames and facilitate T+1 by mid-2024. The SEC wants the proposed changes because they will “reduce the credit,… Read More >>
NY AG, Regulators Charge Safeguard Metals with Fraud
New York Attorney General Letitia James has filed suit against Safeguard Metals LLC, a precious metals company, and its owner and manager, Jeffrey S. Santulan, alleging that they defrauded investors, including many seniors, across New York and the United States. The lawsuit, originally filed by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission and a bipartisan coalition… Read More >>
SEC Moves to Revamp Form PF & Other Briefs
SEC Lowers the PE Threshold for Form PF The SEC is proposing changes to Form PF, which is the reporting form “for certain SEC-registered investment advisers to private funds,” including lowering the threshold for firms that come into scope for the reporting requirement. The SEC proposal “would decrease the reporting threshold for large private equity… Read More >>
