On August 6, 2025, the Staff of the Division of Trading and Markets of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) released an updated set of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) addressing the application of Rule 15c3-3a to...more
On February 19, 2025, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission” or “SEC”) dropped its appeal of a ruling by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas (“District Court”) on November 6, 2024 that...more
On February 5, 2025, Robert Cook, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Financial Industry Regulatory Industry, Inc. (“FINRA”), announced that FINRA will not set an effective date for its recent amendments (the...more
On December 16, 2024, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) adopted amendments (the “Amendments”) requiring the electronic filing, submission, or posting of certain forms required under the Securities Exchange Act of...more
Broker-dealers had been preparing for the sunset of the prior time-based relief that the staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission provided in respect of compliance with Rule 15c2-11 as to certain fixed income...more
A broker-dealer failed to reasonably supervise its registered representatives when making recommendations of certain variable rate structured products (“VRSPs”), including fixed to floating rate steepeners and other variable...more
A broker-dealer (the “Dealer”) entered into a cease-and-desist order with the Securities and Exchange Commission for failing to maintain and enforce written policies and procedures reasonably designed to achieve compliance...more
On July 31, 2024, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced that it agreed to settle allegations that a California-based broker-dealer sold in excess of $13 million in “L bonds,” a speculative, unrated debt...more
On July 30, 2024, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) proposed revisions to the restrictions on brokered deposits (the “Proposal”). The Proposal is intended to strengthen the restrictions to reflect the FDIC’s...more
The Division of Examinations (the “Division”) of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) recently issued a Risk Alert (the “Risk Alert”) to SEC-registered broker-dealers providing insight and additional information...more
The Securities and Exchange Commission’s Office of the Investor Advocate recently issued its fiscal year 2025 Report on Objectives. The Report is one of two annual reports required to be filed by the Investor Advocate with...more
7/5/2024
/ Annual Reports ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Financial Markets ,
Fraud ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investors ,
Regulation Best Interest ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Retailers ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
On May 15, 2024, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) adopted amendments (the “Amendments”) to Regulation S-P under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”), which governs the treatment of...more
On March 18, 2024, FINRA announced that it has fined a broker-dealer $850,000 in connection with the firm’s program to pay individuals with followings on social media sites (i.e., “influencers”) to promote the firm in social...more
3/19/2024
/ Broker-Dealer ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Influencers ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Opportunities ,
Online Advertisements ,
Online Platforms ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Social Media ,
Statutory Violations
On February 5, 2024, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) adopted new rules – SEC Rules 3a5-4 and 3a44-2 (collectively, the “Final Rules”) – to further define the phrase “as part of a regular business” used in...more
2/23/2024
/ Broker-Dealer ,
Financial Markets ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Liquidity ,
New Rules ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ,
Securities Exchanges ,
Securities Regulation ,
Securities Traders ,
Securities Transactions
In recent wide-ranging remarks punctuated with a number of movie references and analogies (some that I confess were lost on me), Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gensler spoke about various aspects of Artificial...more
On August 23, 2023, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) adopted amendments (the “Amendments”) to Rule 15b9-1 (“Rule 15b9-1”) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”) that generally...more
On June 7, 2023, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) unanimously adopted final rules amending Regulation M (the “Final Rules”) to remove its references to credit ratings, replace them with alternative...more
On February 15, 2023, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC” or the “Commission”) issued Release No. 34-96930 (the “Adopting Release”), containing final rules (the “Final Rules”) that will shorten the standard...more
The use of social media raises securities law and compliance challenges for issuers, broker-dealers, and investment advisers. This Compliance Guide summarizes briefly some key principles.
...more
Yesterday, for the first time as Chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Gary Gensler appeared before Congress to provide testimony regarding the market disruptions and volatility witnessed in January 2021 relating...more
5/7/2021
/ Broker-Dealer ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Congressional Investigations & Hearings ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Financial Markets ,
GameStop ,
Market Volatility ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Security-Based Swaps ,
Swaps
The Securities and Exchange Commission will hold a roundtable discussion on October 26, 2020 that will focus on Regulation Best Interest and Form CRS. The roundtable will discuss initial observations regarding...more
10/22/2020
/ Best Interest Standard ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Management ,
Regulation Best Interest ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Securities Transactions ,
Standard of Conduct
On September 16, 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission adopted amendments to Exchange Act Rule 15c2-11. This rule was last amended about thirty years ago. Rule 15c2-11 prescribes requirements relating to the...more
One of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s priorities under Chair Clayton’s leadership has been protection of retail investors, including through rigorous enforcement of microcap fraud. Consistent with that focus,...more
The Securities and Exchange Commission recently released the final report from the 2018 Government-Business Forum on Small Business Capital Formation. The report highlights the recommendations of attendees in ranked order...more
At yesterday's open meeting, the Securities and Exchange Commission adopted a final Regulation Best Interest, as well as additional guidance.
Final action relating to the broker-dealer standard of conduct had been...more
6/6/2019
/ Agency Relationship ,
Best Interest Standard ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Products ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Retail Investors ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)