On January 9, the SEC's Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations ("OCIE") issued its annual "hot-topics" list of examination priorities for 2014. National Exam Program Priorities across OCIE's entire program include: 1. Fraud Detection & Prevention 2. Corporate Governance, Conflicts of Interest & Enterprise Risk Management 3. Technology 4. Dual Registrants (BD & RIA) 5. New Laws & Regulation
- Rule 506(c) Accredited Investors
- Crowd-funding
- Municipal Advisors
- New Registrants under Dodd-Frank
The SEC's new Municipal-Advisor Rules, 17 CFR § § 240.15Ba1-1 to 15Ba1-8 were to become effective Monday, January 13, 2014 but that morning were delayed until July 1. SEC Rel. 34-71288. Adopted last September, SEC Rel. 34-70462, the Rules will implement Dodd-Frank § 975 and require registration (firm-only, not individuals) and impose fiduciary duty upon MA's (and their control affiliates), subjecting MA's to SEC, FINRA and MSRB rules regarding:
- Supervision
- Conflicts
- Gifts & Entertainment
- Political Contributions
- Books & Records
- Business Communications
- Compensation and ...
Maybe I'm just getting a head start on my "bah humbug" mood for the holidays, I don't know. Did it strike anyone else as discordant that almost a third of the record-setting JPMorgan RMBS settlement was ear-marked to fund "affordable housing / erase urban blight" policy initiatives? Is it right to fund the Administration's social policies through the settlement of civil litigation brought by DOJ? On November 19th, the Justice Department and various state AG's (among others) announced a $13Bn global settlement -- "the largest settlement with a single entity in American history" -- of ...
The SEC announced November 12th that it has entered its first DPA (deferred prosecution agreement) with an individual respondent. In a DPA, the SEC rewards substantial assistance to an important investigation by agreeing not to prosecute so long as the cooperator complies with certain specified undertakings. DPAs are part of Enforcement's Cooperation Program, which adopted a suite of tools that are a long-standing part of the white-collar-crime canon. Those tools include:
- Cooperation Agreements -recommending some credit for substantial assistance;
- Deferred Prosecution ...
PIABA, the securities-investor plaintiff's bar, issued an October 16th press release roundly criticizing industry self-regulatory rules allowing a broker to seek expungement of a customer-claim from her permanent record. PIABA's release relies on blunt statistics showing that about 60% of arbitration awards containing the word "expungement" granted that relief (with a higher 89-96% rate for awards entered on settlements). The group failed to mention, though, 2009 reforms requiring arbitrators to make an affirmative finding (after a hearing) that:
- The claim was ...