The Department of Labor's "fiduciary duty" Rule continues to get more bollixed up. DOL announced a temporary enforcement policy that will give a "free pass" for any violations (a) in the gap between effective date and delay, or (b) tardy good-faith compliance if there's no delay.
The Rule becomes effective on April 10, requiring among others a fiduciary acknowledgement (even though full BIC contract compliance won't be required until January 1, 2018). DOL published a proposed delay for 15-day comment on March 2, with a broader "merits" comment period extending thereafter. If ...
The two remaining SEC Commissioners agreed March 1 to propose amendments "requiring" municipal securities issuers to disclose non-security financial obligations and material events occurring in other outstanding obligations.
The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board ("MSRB") and other market participants have argued for years that undisclosed bank loans, direct participations, and material events occurring with an issuer's other outstanding obligations remained "blind spots" to market transparency, and to investors' ability to evaluate issuers' financial status ...
The US Department of Labor today proposed a 60-day extension (through June 9) for the effective date of its Fiduciary Duty Rule and related exemptions.
The extension would give DOL some time to complete the re-analyses directed in the President's February 3 Memo. The Memo directs DOL to examine whether the Rule "may adversely affect access to retirement advice and requires an updated economic and legal impact analysis. We discussed that Memo here: 2017/02/09/dol-fiduciary-rule-still-april-10-implementation/
The Department will collect public comment on the proposed ...
The Department of Labor's Fiduciary Duty Rule remains on track for April 10 implementation, notwithstanding a maelstrom of hype about it.
Nearly everyone expected the new administration would delay the Rule - and many reported that done. The opposition claimed delay was Wall Street's license to steal from your grandparents' retirement savings.
But when actually signed, the Presidential Memorandum did not direct DOL to delay implementation of the Rule. Instead, it instructed DOL to study it to see if it posed unintended adverse consequences for investors by reduced access or ...
Effective April 3, 2017, all FINRA arbitration participants (except pro se parties) must use FINRA's web-based DR-Portal to file and serve documents in both customer and industry arbitrations.
Pro se parties may elect to use the Portal or opt-out, using traditional filing and service methods instead.
Exceptions to Portal service include most items involving new or non-parties, documents produced and permanent injunction claims:
- pro se customers who do not elect to use the Party Portal;
- documents produced in response to discovery requests or pursuant to the Discovery Guide;
In 2016, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued its final rule expanding the "investment advice fiduciary" definition under ERISA and modified the complex of prohibited transaction exemptions for investment activities as a result of the expanded definition. The new rule is scheduled to be implemented starting on April 10, 2017.
There are many opponents to the new rule, who argue that it is one of the most costly, burdensome regulations to be implemented. Joe Wilson, a Republican Congressman from South Carolina, has recently introduced the Protecting American Families ...
After markets closed on Friday the 13th, the U.S. Department of Justice ("DOJ") announced an $864 million settlement regarding Moody's credit ratings of residential mortgage-backed securities ("RMBS") and collateralized debt obligations ("CDOs") leading up to the financial crisis.
Moody's will pay a $437.5 civil penalty to DOJ to resolve civil FIRREA claims and another $426.3 million to resolve potential claims by 21 State Attorneys General. The agreement also requires Moody's to implement additional compliance measures.
Moody's release said the settlement "removes ...
One of three counts in Volkswagen's recent $4.3 billion guilty-plea was for obstruction of justice arising from a litigation-hold botched by house counsel.
As VW prepared to admit the defeat-device problems to US regulators, VW Group of America ("GOA") informed VW AG of a forthcoming litigation hold. The litigation holds were not issued simultaneously across the enterprise: VW GOA proposed its hold on August 26, 2015 but issued it on August 28. VW AG's corresponding hold was proposed on August 31, and issued September 1.
In the interim, in-house counsel Attorney A communicated with ...
On Friday, January 13, the Supreme Court granted certiorari to resolve a Circuit split on the extent to which SEC enforcement actions are restricted by the five-year statute of limitations in 28 U.S.C. § 2462.
Section 2462 sets a five-year limitations period "for the enforcement of any civil fine, penalty, or forfeiture." The Supreme Court has held those limitations accrue when the violation occurs and the SEC does not benefit from a "discovery rule." Gabelli v. SEC, 133 S. Ct. 1216, 1220 (2013).
But there's disagreement over whether it applies to the commonly-sought disgorgement and ...
OCIE released its 2017 exam priorities on January 12. The priorities list was most notable for being shorter than prior years. But that likely means only more focus, rather than less vigor. Here is the list with some quick takes on its content:
Retail Investors:
Robo-adviser and wrap-fee programs (under scrutiny too for the DOL fiduciary rule - whether it stays or goes)
ETFs (due to increasing popularity)
Un-examined IA's (recognizing resource scarcity and the growth of SEC-registered IAs)
Recidivist Reps (the subject of several Wall St. Journal articles last year)
Multi-branch ...