Compliance Tip of the Day: COSO Objective 5 – Monitoring Activities
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Raising Capital 101: A Securities Podcast - What Laws Affect Securities Offerings?
Payment for Order Flow (PFOF) and Gamification: Your Questions Answered
Summer Enforcement Action Review; Raising Money in a Pandemic - Investment Management Roundtable Discussion
Investment Management and Private Funds Roundtable – June 2020
Videocast: Asset management regulation in 2020 videocast series – FinTech initiatives
Videocast: Asset management regulation in 2020 videocast series – Fiduciary investment advice: The patchwork emerges
Videocast: Asset management regulation in 2020 videocast series – SEC enforcement
Videocast: Asset management regulation in 2020 videocast series – Complying with new SEC rules for broker-dealers
Investment Management Roundtable Discussion – Regulatory and Enforcement Update
Regulation Best Interest Videocast Series: Establishing An Investment Platform Post-Regulation BI
Investment Management Update - Focus on Data Privacy and Cybersecurity
With the SPAC market heating up, we are seeing a huge uptick in activity on the SPAC IPO side. All these new SPACs will be searching for great deals in no time, so in this edition of the SPAC Notebook we dive into what is...more
On March 20, 2025, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (FINRA) filed a proposed rule change with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to exempt certain business development companies (BDCs) from FINRA...more
Pre-IPO investing involves buying a stake in a company before the company makes its initial public offering of securities. Many stock promoters invite potential investors to invest in a pre-IPO offering by providing an...more
This is our initial public offering guide. It will help you decide whether an IPO is the right move for your company and, if so, help you make sure your IPO goes off as quickly and as smoothly as possible, without any...more
SPACs (special purpose acquisition companies) had a volatile year in 2021, raising more funds in the public market and doing more business combinations than ever before. After an extremely busy first quarter the pace of SPAC...more
There was no shortage of excitement and drama in the world of SPACs in 2021. The year started with IPOs of hundreds of SPACs in numbers that eclipsed everyone’s expectations. The exuberance in the SPAC market in the first...more
So far in 2021, we have seen more than 500 Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs) go public and raise more than $123 billion, and more than 160 of these “blank check firms” complete mergers with or acquisitions of...more
After a period of astounding growth in the special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) market, FINRA recently joined the SEC in announcing further scrutiny of broker-dealers and their affiliates involved in SPAC offerings,...more
In April 2021, the SEC released several public statements that may have begun to cool a superheated SPAC market. FINRA soon followed suit, announcing in July 2021 a regulatory sweep aimed at SPACs. Now, for the first time, a...more
Chair Gensler’s enforcement agenda begins to take shape as SEC brings sprawling enforcement action against wide range of SPAC participants. Consistent with prior SEC warnings regarding incentives for Special Purpose...more
The proposed amendments could significantly alter the landscape for extended settlement of securities offerings by expressly limiting the public offering exception for “when-issued” securities to equity IPOs. Key Points: ...more
In the face of volatile markets and a global pandemic, an old capital markets vehicle has been taking the markets by storm: special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs). Although SPACs have been around for many years, the...more
Notwithstanding the economic difficulties following the pandemic, 2020 saw a huge increase in initial public offerings ("IPOs") and merger activity relating to "SPACs" (Special Purpose Acquisition Companies). The number of...more
Commissioner Brian D. Quintenz Ending His Term at the CFTC - Brian D. Quintenz is ending his five-year term as Commissioner at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). He released a statement on April 28, 2020...more
FINRA Amendments to Rules 5130 and 5131 - The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (“FINRA”) recently effected changes to its rules regarding the purchase, sale, allocation, and distribution of initial equity...more
On January 9, 2020, FINRA released its 2020 Risk Monitoring and Examination Priorities Letter for its member firms. The exam priorities are organized into four categories: (1) sales practice and supervision; (2) market...more
FINRA held its bi-annual Cybersecurity Conference in January and recently published five take-away real-world experiences from the conference...more
The amendments expand certain exemptions and provide additional guidance under Rules 5130 and 5131 with respect to equity IPO allocations. On December 19, 2019, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) issued...more
FINRA’s examination program has undergone its most significant reorganization in decades. As stated in a press release, Oct. 1, 2018, FINRA’s goal for the reorganization was to “consolidate its Examination and Risk Monitoring...more
KEY POINTS - - Amendments to FINRA Rules 5130 and 5131, which govern the offer and sale of "New Issue" securities went into effect on January 1. - FINRA Rule 5130 prohibits a broker-dealer from selling New Issues to...more
On November 5, 2019, the SEC approved changes to FINRA Rule 5130 (Restrictions on the Purchase and Sale of Initial Equity Public Offerings) and Rule 5131 (New Issue Allocations and Distributions). FINRA announced that the...more
BROKER-DEALER - FINRA Proposes to Ease Restrictions on Initial Equity Public Offerings and New Issues - The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) is proposing to amend its Rule 5130 and Rule 5131 to ease ...more
U.S. Developments - Regulatory Developments - SEC and FINRA Issue Joint Statement on Digital Asset Custody Issues - On July 8, 2019, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial Industry...more