Consumer Finance Monitor Podcast Episode: A Deep Dive into Mass Mailings by Debt Relief Law Firms
On September 4, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued an order against three investment adviser firms for violating the whistleblower protections of Rule 21F-17(a) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. This...more
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced charges against 26 broker-dealers, investment advisers, and dually-registered firms for widespread and longstanding failures to maintain and preserve electronic...more
Who may be interested: Registered Investment Companies, Investment Advisers, Broker-Dealers - Quick Take: The SEC settled charges against a firm and the former head of the firm’s equity syndicate desk, arising out of a...more
Who may be interested: Investment Advisers, Broker-Dealers - Quick Take: The SEC settled charges against a firm that allegedly prevented brokerage customers and advisory clients from reporting potential securities law...more
The Maine Office of Securities enforces Maine’s securities laws, licenses broker-dealers, broker-dealer agents, investment advisers, and investment adviser representatives, and reviews registration statements and exemption...more
Who may be interested: Registered Investment Advisers, Mutual Funds, Compliance Officers - Quick Take: The SEC settled charges against two affiliated registered investment advisers, alleging that the advisers failed to...more
The SEC seeks to regulate trading through internal compliance processes. The SEC settled insider trading charges in relation to misuse of a Rule 10b5-1 plan established in the name of a British Virgin Islands entity owned...more
New York AG Letitia James directed two cryptocurrency lending platforms to cease sales of unregistered virtual or cryptocurrency lending products, which allegedly violate New York’s Martin Act that is intended to protect the...more
Tracking the key areas of concern to SEC enforcement can be beneficial for issuers, investment advisers and others that may be subject to scrutiny by the Commission. For example, identifying key areas of focus by determining...more
Hollywood martial arts sensei Steven Seagal was recently karate-chopped by the SEC for his alleged undisclosed payments for Twitter-touting a security that was being offered and sold in an initial coin offering. In a settled...more
On April 30, 2019, the D.C. Circuit issued an important decision in Robare Group, Ltd. v. SEC, Slip Op. No. 16-1453, which rejected the long-standing approach of the Securities and Exchange Commission (Commission or SEC) that...more
For the first time, a broker-dealer, Central States Capital Markets, LLC (Central States), has been prosecuted for violating the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA). ...more
Hester Peirce Remarks at Cato Institute Conference - Hester Peirce made remarks at the Cato Institute’s Fintech Unbound conference on September 12, 2018. Commissioner Peirce commented that securities regulators are too risk...more
In a flurry of activity and confluence of developments, the SEC, FINRA and a Brooklyn federal judge have commenced actions and made rulings that continue to define the regulatory framework and obligations surrounding the sale...more
The surge in cryptocurrency activity has led to an increase in attention from enforcement authorities at both the state and national levels. The Texas State Securities Board launched an investigation into cryptocurrency...more
A good chunk of my work as an ERISA attorney is working with financial advisory firms in managing their retirement plan practice especially with 401(k) plans. I have many registered investment advisory clients around the...more
As we have highlighted in prior posts, regulators of financial institutions, including FinCEN, FINRA and SEC, have increasingly brought actions to bring organizations – and individuals – into compliance with AML / BSA...more
The Securities Division of Tennessee’s Department of Commerce and Industry has increased its enforcement activity during 2016. The recent actions include: Final Administrative Orders: Clifton Alexander and HugeROI.com...more
I’ve long thought that sending faxes was a pretty silly means of communication. Don’t send me a fax. I don’t want it. At some point I’m hoping that even my kids’ doctor’s office will get dragged into the 20th century and...more
Ponzi scheme cases have, of course, become a staple of SEC enforcement since the discovery of Madoff’s unprecedented scheme. While there seems to be a virtually endless number of these cases centered on the preverbal “to good...more
Rochdale Securities LLC, at one time a small Commission registered broker-dealer based in Stamford, Connecticut, is perhaps best known as the firm where a registered representative and his customer placed orders for over 1.6...more
The SEC prevailed on two summary judgment motions. One centered on a manipulation action. The other was against an attorney who facilitated a prime bank fraud. The Commission also filed: An action against UBS tied to its...more
On September 22, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and R.T. Jones Capital Equities Management, Inc. (“R.T. Jones”), a St. Louis-based investment adviser, settled charges that R.T. Jones failed to adopt...more
Highlights Areas of High Risk and Examination Priorities for Financial Industry Firms - On September 15, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC’s) Office of Compliance, Inspections and Examinations (OCIE),...more
In recent years, the SEC has been focused on cybersecurity. It has issued risk alerts, conducted examinations and provided guidance about what the agency sees as widespread weaknesses in many policies and procedures to...more