Editor’s Note -
Rich Matheny Comments on New Format of OFAC Sanctions List: On January 5, OFAC announced the release of a new format of its Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN) List. With the new...more
1/15/2015
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Broker-Dealer ,
FDIC ,
FinCEN ,
Industry Examinations ,
Investment Adviser ,
No-Action Relief ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Sanctions ,
SDN List ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Security-Based Swaps ,
Transfer Agents
Editor’s Note:
FINRA Rulemaking: In this issue we report on three recent FINRA rule amendments. The first amends the NASD rule on the use of customer account statements to require that member firms use more accurate...more
1/8/2015
/ Amended Regulation ,
Broker-Dealer ,
CFTC ,
Commodity Trading Advisors (CTAs) ,
CPOs ,
Family Offices ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Futures Commission Merchants (FCMs) ,
NASD ,
NYSE ,
REIT ,
Securities ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
Editor’s Note:
Spotlight on the Credit Risk Retention Rule: The OCC, Federal Reserve Board, FDIC, SEC, FHFA and HUD announced the adoption of a joint final rule (the Rule) to implement the credit risk retention...more
12/31/2014
/ Asset-Backed Securities ,
Banking Sector ,
Banks ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Final Rules ,
Investment Adviser ,
OCIE ,
Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) ,
Risk Retention ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act
Regulatory Developments -
SEC Proposes Changes to Exchange Act Registration Requirements to Implement JOBS Act Mandates -
The SEC announced that it is proposing rule amendments under the Securities Exchange Act...more
12/24/2014
/ Asset Management ,
Bitcoin ,
BitLicense ,
CPOs ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
FinCEN ,
FSOC ,
Investment Adviser ,
JOBS Act ,
MiFID ,
NFA ,
Proposed Amendments ,
Registration ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Volcker Rule ,
Year-End Planning
Amendment to Swaps Push-out Provision of Dodd-Frank: Section 630 of the recently passed Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015 (“Omnibus Spending Bill” – see p. 249) amends Section 716 of the Dodd-Frank...more
12/19/2014
/ Appropriations Bill ,
Asset Management ,
Bank Holding Company ,
Business Development Companies ,
Cuba ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Enforcement Actions ,
ETFs ,
FBAR ,
Federal Reserve ,
FinCEN ,
Global Systemically Important Banks (G-SIBs) ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Push-Out Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Swaps ,
Toys R Us
Editor’s Note -
Spotlight on FINRA Retrospective Rule Review: On December 9, FINRA announced it had issued reports on its retrospective review of two groups of rules – a report on the rules on communications with the...more
12/11/2014
/ ACH Payments ,
Banking Sector ,
BSA/AML ,
CFTC ,
Commodity Trading Advisors (CTAs) ,
CPOs ,
Examination Manual ,
FDIC ,
FFIEC ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Foreign Banks ,
Guidance Update ,
Information Reports ,
NACHA ,
NFA ,
OCC ,
Rare Earth Metals ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Supervision ,
Transparency
The SEC’s Semiannual Regulatory Agenda. The Federal Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs posted the SEC’s most recent Semiannual Regulatory Agenda which, in compliance with the Regulatory Flexibility Act, identifies...more
12/5/2014
/ Administrative Hearings ,
Brokers ,
CFTC ,
CPOs ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Disgorgement ,
HSBC ,
Investment Adviser ,
Prejudgment Interest ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Small Business
Editor’s Note:
Spotlight on the FDIC: In a Financial Institutions Letter, FIL-56-2014, the FDIC announced additional guidance on its 1998 Statement of Policy on Applications for Deposit Insurance in a Q&A format on...more
11/26/2014
/ Annual Reports ,
Bankruptcy Code ,
Chapter 15 ,
Citigroup ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Deposit Insurance ,
Enforcement Statistics ,
FDIC ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Foreclosure ,
Guidance Update ,
NASD ,
NYSE ,
Regulation SCI ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
FINRA Requests Comment on Proposed “Pay-to-Play” Rule -
FINRA issued Regulatory Notice 14-50 requesting comment on proposed “pay-to-play” and related rules that would regulate in a manner similar to Rule 206(4)-5 under...more
11/20/2014
/ Alternative Mutual Funds ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Crowdfunding ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Advisers Act of 1940 ,
Pay-To-Play ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Retroactivity ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Settlement ,
U.S. Treasury ,
Unregistered Securities ,
Variable Insurance
The SEC first proposed a study of the fiduciary obligations of brokers and investment advisers as required by the Dodd-Frank Act in July 2010. The SEC still has not made a decision about the shape of a fiduciary rule for...more
11/13/2014
/ Bank Holding Company Act ,
Cybersecurity ,
Dodd-Frank ,
ETMFs ,
Exemptive Relief ,
FDIC ,
Federal Reserve ,
FFIEC ,
FinCEN ,
Leveraged Lending ,
Money Services Business ,
OCC ,
Peer-to-Peer ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
The Day After: There are still a few undecided races but we know that Republicans will control the House and the Senate in the next session of Congress. This may provide an opportunity for more bipartisan legislation in the...more
In this issue:
- In preliminarily denying two exemption requests, the SEC takes a stand for market transparency in ETFs and upholds the arbitrage mechanism that allows market prices to closely track NAVs.
-...more
10/30/2014
/ ABS ,
Administrative Hearings ,
Arbitrage ,
Asset-Backed Securities ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Enforcement Actions ,
ETFs ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
FinCEN ,
Flood Insurance ,
Flood Zones ,
Money Services Business ,
Municipal Advisers ,
NAV ,
New Regulations ,
Private Equity Funds ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Risk Retention ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Transparency ,
Virtual Currency
Editor’s Note:
Bank Regulators Again Looking at Incentive Compensation and Excessive Risks. Federal Reserve Board Governor Daniel Tarullo and New York Federal Reserve President William Dudley spoke on October 20 at a...more
10/23/2014
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitrators ,
Banks ,
CFTC ,
CPOs ,
DSIO ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Falsified Documents ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Insider Trading ,
No-Action Relief ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
Editor’s Note -
Looking Ahead: December 1 Effective Date for FINRA Consolidated Supervision Rules. The new FINRA Supervision rules, approved by the SEC in December 2013, become effective on December 1, 2014. The new...more
10/21/2014
/ Asset-Backed Securities ,
Banks ,
Broker-Dealer ,
DPPs ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
ISDA ,
ISDA Master Agreement ,
NASD ,
REIT ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
Spotlight on the MSRB: In the Industry Developments section we report that the SEC, FINRA and the MSRB will be conducting a compliance outreach program for municipal advisors. The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board was...more
10/9/2014
/ CARDS ,
CPOs ,
ETFs ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Herbalife ,
Insider Trading ,
Investment Adviser ,
Municipal Advisers ,
NFA ,
Pay-To-Play ,
Public Comment ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
Editor’s Note:
Spotlight on the Federal Reserve and CSBS 2014 Community Banking Report. On September 24 the Federal Reserve and the Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS) announced the release of their report,...more
In this Issue: Last week brought news of several enforcement actions by the SEC against investment advisers on a number of issues: Rule 105 of Regulation M, improper withdrawals characterized as management fees, violation of...more
In This Issue: The CFTC provided long-awaited exemptive relief for commodity pool operators that wish to offer their funds in private offerings using general solicitation under Rule 506(c) of the SEC’s Regulation D. ...more
9/18/2014
/ CFTC ,
Commodity Pool ,
Compliance ,
CPO ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Enforcement ,
Enforcement Actions ,
OCIE ,
Private Offerings ,
Regulation D ,
Rule 506(c) ,
Securities Act of 1933 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Swap Dealers ,
Swaps
The SEC recently approved amendments to simplify and refine the scope of FINRA corporate financing and underwriter conflicts of interest rules. The amendments include modifications that will affect not only underwriters and...more
On Jan. 31, 2014, the SEC issued a no-action letter that permits private company M&A brokers to avoid registration with the SEC as broker-dealers under certain circumstances. However, business brokers should understand that...more
The SEC’s final Municipal Advisor Rules, effective January 13, 2014, apply to many of the advisory services and products provided by banks and trust companies to municipal entities, such as state and local governments, and to...more