I wrote earlier that the SEC was wrong to extend its "admission of wrongdoing" policy (once reserved for extreme cases) to negligent software-glitch misreporting of trade-data in the Scottrade case. Burr blog here, (April 17, 2014); Law360 Securities article here, (June 2, 2014). On June 4, FINRA announced that its response to similar blue-sheet violations by three firms was a standard AWC ("neither admit nor deny") with a fine of less than half the amount assessed Scottrade by the SEC. As in Scottrade, the firms' violations stemmed from software problems and FINRA also found ...
I recently wrote about Judge Rakoff's refusal to enter the SEC's proposed consent decree in SEC v. Citigroup Global Markets, Inc., 827 F. Supp. 2d 328 (SDNY 2011) - and the shift in SEC enforcement policy that it prompted. Burr blog here, (April 17, 2014); Law360 Securities article here, (June 2, 2014). On June 4, the Second Circuit reversed the Citi ruling, holding the District Court "abused its discretion by applying an incorrect legal standard." United States Securities & Exchange Comm'n v. Citigroup Global Markets, Inc., Nos. 11-5227-cv(L); 11-5375-cv(con); ...
The Alabama Court of Civil Appeals released a slip opinion on May 16, 2014 addressing enforcement of a nonsolicitation agreement against a licensed securities broker. See G.L.S. & Associates, Inc., and G.L. Smith & Associates, Inc. v. Keith Rogers, No. 2130322 (Ala. Civ. App. May 16, 2014) (Slip Opinion). The defendant (Rogers) worked for a securities firm (GLSA) and had an employment agreement that contained a nonsolicitation provision which prohibited Rogers from soliciting GLSA's clients for a period of two years after termination of employment. Rogers resigned from his ...
The SEC's new MA Rules become effective July 1, 2014, 17 CFR 240.15Ba1-1 through 1-8 and 15Bc4-1. Required by Dodd-Frank § 975, the Rules were adopted last year, but the SEC postponed their implementation from January to July 1. Rel. No. 34-71288 (stayed January 13 until July 1, 2014); Final Rule, Rel. No. 34-70462, here: http://www.sec.gov/rules/final/2013/34-70462.pdf
The Rules implement a registration regime and impose a fiduciary duty upon any person deemed a Municipal Advisor. The Rules are very specific about which circumstances and relationships impose that duty and what ...In 1995, the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act ("PSLRA") was passed to limit frivolous and unwarranted securities lawsuits. 15 U.S.C. §78u-4. While private securities litigation is an indispensable tool in which defrauded investors can recover their losses, such litigation has led to nuisance filings, targeting of deep-pocket defendants, and vexatious discovery requests in attempts to, among other things, extort large settlements. See Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc. v. Dabit, 547 U.S. 71 (2006). To combat these actions, the PSLRA changed the pleading ...
The SEC famously announced last year that it would insist upon admissions in settled cases involving egregious conduct - instead of its long-standing "neither admit nor deny" rubric. But its recent Scottrade action has the industry wondering if Commission staff are adhering to that standard. Scottrade entered an Offer of Settlement in administrative proceedings, admitting the Commission's factual and legal findings of books-and-records violations. A software code change in March 2006 inadvertently caused Scottrade's system to omit Error Account trades from its ...