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)
The Securities Act of 1933's catchall for defining a security is the "investment contract." The landmark case, SEC v Howey, explained that "an investment contract for the purposes of the Securities Act means a contract, transaction or scheme whereby a person invests his money in a common enterprise and is led to expect profits solely form the efforts of the promoter or a third party …" Here, the Howey Court held that selling shares in a citrus farm managed by the promoter was an investment contract. Under the Howey test, staking sports, poker, or fantasy sports gamblers (or a related ...
A unanimous Supreme Court reaffirmed the "gifting" theory of insider trading under Dirks and rejected Newman "to the extent" it required more.
The Court's long-standing rule in Dirks v. SEC, 463 U.S. 646, 664 (1983) allows a jury to infer a tipper's personal benefit "where the tipper receives something of value in exchange for the tip or 'makes a fit of confidential information to a trading relative or friend.'"
Recently, the Second Circuit appeared to limit the "gifting" theory. In United States v. Newman, 773 F.3d 438, 452 (2nd Cir. 2014), cert. denied, 577 U.S. ___ (2015), the Court ...
The SEC reports it brought 868 enforcement actions in the fiscal year ended September 30, 2016 -- more than ever before, and for the third year in a row. But a Wall Street Journal article this week attributes it to playing "small ball" with little, easily-won cases.
In the Journal's analysis, the SEC's enforcement numbers would have remained relatively flat (up some) if not for the addition of 91 smaller cases under Chair White's "broken windows" mandate. The mandate derives from community policing models (and a 1982 article by political scientist James Q. Wilson) that posit overall ...
In an effort to provide transparency, the Dodd-Frank Act has previously formed an Investor Advisory Committee to assist the SEC on various issues including regulatory priorities, the regulation of securities products, trading strategies, fee structures, the effectiveness of disclosure, and on initiatives to protect investor interests and to promote investor confidence and the integrity of the securities marketplace.
One of the goals of the Committee is to ensure the effectiveness of corporate disclosures that are made for investors. In keeping with this goal, the Committee ...
The Eleventh Circuit Friday joined three others in concluding that Congress intended Respondents must wait until appeal from the Commission to have a Court consider their challenges to the Constitutionality of the SEC's administrative forum.
Following the Thunder Basin line of cases, the Eleventh Circuit held that federal courts do not have jurisdiction to short-circuit the SEC's administrative process to hear claims that the process is not constitutional. Instead, Respondents must raise their arguments twice before the very tribunals they claim aren't Constitutional ...
The SEC has approved FINRA Rule 2273, which requires a transferring representative to send customers an educational communication regarding firm recruitment practices and account transfers. The rule is designed to address situations in which a representative leaves his or her firm and contacts former customers. Noting that "the former customer's confidence in and prior experience with the representative may be one of the customer's most important considerations in determining whether to transfer assets to the recruiting firm," FINRA was concerned that former customers have ...
Since the 2010 passage of the Dodd-Frank Act, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") has been the subject of growing criticism regarding its increased use of administrative proceedings.
By enacting Dodd-Frank, Congress vastly expanded the enforcement powers afforded to the SEC by allowing it to address potential violations, such as insider trading, in its internal administrative courts rather than in federal court. While the SEC attributes its increased use of administrative proceedings to the significant benefits the administrative proceedings provide ...
It is not uncommon for registered representatives to change broker-dealers over the course of their career.
In most cases, their customers will typically switch firms as well, as they follow their representative to wherever he or she may go. Seems like a non-issue, right? FINRA did not think so. FINRA became concerned that when the representatives contacted the customers to discuss the switch, the customers may not be provided all the information necessary to make an informed decision on whether to transfer their assets. Accordingly, FINRA proposed a rule that requires ...
On April 12, the Tennessee Republican Party filed a petition in the US Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, seeking to invalidate the SEC's approval of new rules extending the MSRB's long-standing "pay-to-play" prohibitions to new municipal advisors.
The MSRB has prohibited "pay-to-play" practices in the municipal securities space since its Rule G-37 was promulgated in 1994. The Rule does not prohibit political contributions by bond dealers outright, but instead prohibits them from doing business with issuers to who's elected officials a dealer has made political ...
White House officials this week said that President Obama's fiscal 2017 budget will seek major increases in funding for Wall Street regulators in the near term, and proposes to double their funding by 2021. The President's budget proposal would provide an 11% increase for the SEC (of $1.8 billion) and a 33% increase for the CFTC (of $330 million). The SEC reportedly plans to use the additional funding to hire 250 new staffers, about half devoted to investment-advisor examinations. The SEC also plans to add 52 new enforcement positions, and add a lawyer to its Municipal Securities staff ...
Each year, FINRA and the SEC publish their priority letters explaining areas of focus for the upcoming year. The priorities reflect practices and/or products that are perceived to present either heightened risk to investors, a risk to the integrity of the U.S. capital markets, or are otherwise areas of potential concern inherent in the securities industry. One area that FINRA will be focusing on is incentive structures and conflicts of interest that may arise with registered representatives selling proprietary or affiliated products, or products for which the firm receives ...
On December 16, FINRA submitted for SEC approval proposed Rule 2273 to require that brokers send customers an "educational disclosure" when changing firms. Although the proposal deletes a controversial provision that would have required disclosure of hiring bonuses, it requires hiring firms to deliver the FINRA-prescribed disclosure form when contacting former customers about account transfers or receiving their transferred funds. The Rule would require the communication to accompany mailings, be hyper-linked in emails, or sent within three business days after phone ...
This week FINRA proposed for SEC adoption a "pay-to-play" rule for broker-dealers engaged in distribution or solicitation activities with government entities. The Proposed Rule is modeled after investment-adviser pay-to-play Rule 206(4)-5 under the '40 Act, adopted by the SEC in 2010. Proposed FINRA Rule 2030(a) would prohibit a covered member from engaging in distribution or solicitation activities for compensation with a government entity on behalf of an investment adviser that provides or is seeking to provide investment advisory services to such government entity ...
On December 16, the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board ("MSRB") filed with the SEC a proposed rule that would extend to municipal advisers the MSRB's existing rule prohibiting "pay-to-play" practices and restricting campaign contributions in the municipal securities and advisory business. The proposed amendments extend Rule G-37 to municipal advisers and third-party solicitors:
Imposing a two-year ban on business with municipal entities after any contribution to an issuer official who can influence municipal-advisory business, subject to $250 de minimis
The SEC granted two petitions for review last week that tee-up significant issues for full Commission consideration late next Spring. The Commission will consider the application of the Second Circuit's Newman decision restricting the "gifting theory" of insider trading and also will take up the constitutionality of the agency's administrative enforcement forum. Insider-Trading After Newman. ALJ Patil dismissed insider-trading charges against trader Joseph Ruggieri last fall, finding that his tipper hadn't provided the inside information in return for any personal ...
Five years after the SEC brought charges that cost two fund executives their jobs, the U.S. First Circuit overturned the sanctions, chiding the SEC for misreading critical evidence, lacking substantial evidence for its findings and disregarding its own Chief ALJ's opinion. The case illustrates the extraordinary burden respondents in SEC administrative actions must carry before getting a shot at vindication in the Courts. On September 30, 2010, the SEC instituted administrative proceedings charging two State Street executives involved with Limited Duration Bond Fund with ...
The Securities and Exchange Commission recently approved a rule change to amend FINRA Rule 2210 to require broker-dealers to include a "readily apparent reference and hyperlink" to BrokerCheck on their websites. The hyperlinks and references to BrokerCheck would be required for all webpages where a registered person's profile information appears, including webpages on the member's website and webpages on a branch office's website. This is an important development because BrokerCheck is a site for investors to conduct due diligence on broker and broker-dealers. Two FINRA ...
Atlanta federal Judge Leigh Martin May enjoined the SEC from proceeding in yet another administrative enforcement action Tuesday. Ironridge Global IV, Ltd. v. SEC, No. 1:15-CV-2512 (USDC NDGA Nov. 17, 2015). SEC ALJ Grimes had refused to dismiss or stay the administrative proceeding and that hearing was scheduled to commence December 7. The SEC charged Ironridge last June under the '34 Act for allegedly operating as an unregistered broker-dealer by its provision of "Liability for Equity" transactions with 28 microcap issuers. The OIP is here. As before, the Court held it had ...
The SEC recently approved the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board's ("MSRB") extension to Municipal Advisors ("MA's") of its dealer Rule G-20, restricting gifts in connection with municipal securities. The Rule also updates and consolidates existing guidance and conforms to FINRA's similar requirements in FINRA Rule 3220. The Rule adds a new prohibition against entertainment-expense reimbursement from offering proceeds, Rule G-20(e). In general, the Rule prohibits gifts or services (including gratuities) exceeding $100 per year to any person if they relate to the ...
Laurie Bebo, CEO of Assisted Living Concepts, initially got some sympathetic words from the U.S. District Judge who felt constrained to turn away her constitutional challenge to the SEC's administrative forum:
The Court finds that Bebo's claims are compelling and meritorious, but whether that view is correct cannot be resolved here. This is so because Bebo's claims are subject to the exclusive remedial scheme set forth in the Securities Exchange Act. Bebo must litigate her claims before the SEC and then, if necessary, on appeal to the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.
SEC Commissioners Piwowar and Gallagher dissented from a recent Commission Opinion sanctioning an investment adviser's use of misleading historical data purporting to validate an asset-allocation model. Agreeing there was a violation, Piwowar and Gallagher nevertheless dissented, criticizing "rulemaking by opinion:"
Instead, the majority opinion creates from whole cloth specific requirements for advertisements that include the word "backtest." Despite the lack of any statutory or regulatory definition of what constitutes a "backtest," the majority opinion ...
The battle over the constitutionality of the SEC's administrative forum now moves to the U.S. Eleventh Circuit. The appellate court issued an order Wednesday, denying the SEC's bid to upset the trial court's preliminary injunction and allow the administrative trial to go forward. Moreover, the Court consolidated two cases on the issue for expedited merits disposition, including oral argument (if held). See Gray Financial Group, Inc. v. US Securities and Exchange Comm'n, No. 15-13738-F (11th Cir. Oct. 7, 2015); Hill v. Securities and Exchange Comm'n, No. 15-12831 (11th Cir.). In ...
The citadel of the SEC's administrative forum has been under assault from several vectors over the past year or so, as a chorus of dissenting Respondents have mounted increasing challenges to its constitutional legitimacy, as well as it policy wisdom. The arguments were starting to get some traction, but two recent appellate decisions have repulsed the attack, including the D.C. Circuit's September 29 Jarkesy opinion. The arguments were gaining some momentum. First, they elevated the policy discussion to new prominence. SDNY Judge Jed Rakoff weighed in expressing doubt about the ...
The SEC recently - and predictably - rejected a Respondents' arguments challenging the constitutionality of the agency's administrative forum. The September 17 Timbervest decision was the first of the constitutional challenges to reach the full Commission itself, on appeal from the agency's internal administrative law judges ("ALJ"). The Commissioners rejected the Article II "appointments clause" argument, holding its ALJs were indistinguishable from those of the FDIC and thus were not "inferior officers" under Landry v. FDIC. That holding conflicts with those of ...
On September 30, the SEC issued its second round of mass settled actions over municipal securities disclosure issues, as part of its Municipal Continuing Disclosure Cooperation ("MCDC") Initiative. In this round, 22 municipal underwriters will undertake remedial measures and pay fines (ranging from $20,000 to $500,000 and totaling $4.12 million) for disclosure violations. Announced in March of 2014, the MCDC Initiative offered structured settlements for municipal underwriters and issuers who voluntarily "came in from the cold" to self-report failures of new bond ...
The SEC has announced a series of proposed changes to the Rules of Practice governing its internal enforcement actions. The changes update the decade-old Rules and respond in small part to a groundswell of criticism about the Commission's administrative forum. A. Lengthening the "rocket docket." Rule 360 presently requires actions to go from the Order Instituting Proceedings ("OIP" - the charging document) through to decision within 120, 210 or 360 days. That's a very fast schedule for Respondents to digest and defend a case the Enforcement Division might have taken up to 5 ...
A week after OCIE announced it would conduct a second round of cyber-security exams, the Commission emphasized the issue by bringing an enforcement action against a non-custodial investment-adviser over a remediated data breach that caused no customer harm. The adviser used a third-party-hosted web server, on which was stored the personally-identifiable information ("PII") of about 100,000 people, including the firm's 8,400 customers. The server suffered a cyber-attack and data breach in July 2013. The firm responded by retaining multiple consultants, investigating the ...
Two rulings last week ordered the SEC to stop administrative proceedings in two cases, pending the Second Circuit's ruling on the constitutionality of its administrative forum. The Second Circuit stayed the SEC's prosecution of Lynn Tilton, pending appeal of her case. Tilton v. SEC, No. 15-2103 (2nd Cir. Sept. 17, 2015). The same day, Judge Richard Berman, denied the SEC's motion to allow its administrative case to proceed (by staying his preliminary injunction). Duka v. SEC, No. 15 Civ. 357 (USDC S.D.N.Y. Sept. 17, 2015). Judge Berman cited the "goose/gander" rule, noting the ...
The SEC's Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations ("OCIE") issued a recent "Risk Alert" noting observed deficiencies in broker-dealer supervision and compliance controls over retail sales of structured products - especially structured notes. Structured Securities Products ("SSP's") often are principal obligations of BD affiliates, offering exposure to particular underlying asset classes and typically having fixed-income characteristics with embedded derivatives. Examples include principal-protected notes and reverse-convertible notes. SSP's ...
In an August 18 letter to SEC Enforcement Director Ceresney, the National Society for Compliance Professionals ("NSCP") urged the SEC to adopt an internal guideline requiring a higher "aiding and abetting" standard for compliance-officer liability in enforcement actions. While underscoring its commitment to a strong enforcement program in appropriate circumstances, NSCP expressed concern over the hindsight breadth of the "caused" standard used in recent actions against compliance professionals. The group urged the SEC to consider several issues when making ...
On August 24, 2015, FINRA Rule 2040 concerning payments to unregistered persons went into effect. The rule, approved by the SEC in January 2015, is aligned with § 15(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Generally, FINRA firms or associated persons are forbidden from "paying any compensation, fees, concessions, discounts, commissions or other allowances" to persons not registered as broker-dealers under § 15(a) but who are required to be registered (as a result of receiving such compensation) or appropriately-registered association persons outside of compliance with ...
The first Court of Appeals to rule in the recent round of challenges to the Securities and Exchange Commission's administrative enforcement mechanism has held courts lack authority to consider the matter. The US Seventh Circuit yesterday affirmed the district court's earlier dismissal for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction. The Seventh Circuit held it was "fairly discernible" from statute that Congress intended the internal SEC administrative process (then followed by judicial review) to be the norm, unless a party can demonstrate that her constitutional challenge meets ...
For over a year, critics have questioned the fundamental fairness of the SEC's administrative forum, including whether the Agency should act as prosecutor, judge and jury. Even as criticisms mount, the Commission Staff steadfastly declaims there's no issue here - and if there is, they should be the ones to decide it (through two layers of administrative proceeding, with judicial Chevron deference to their expertise, if ever judicially reviewed). Commissioner Piwowar and former SEC Staff have suggested that more transparency might be in order; but the Staff's response included ...
The Department of Labor ("DOL") released a controversial proposed rule on April 20, 2015, that seeks to expand fiduciary duties in the context of retirement-investment advice. Specifically, the proposed rule would rework a 1975 five-part test that greatly limits the fiduciary responsibilities of advisors for plans covered under the Employment Retirement Income Security Act ("ERISA"). The new fiduciary-duties standard proffered by the rule would require advisors to put the best interests of the client ahead of any profit motive, especially the incentives inherent to certain ...
The SEC confirmed Friday that it may choose to be prosecutor, judge and jury in novel cases where it thinks it knows best and can urge Chevron deference when others seek judicial review.
The Commission dressed up the language a bit, of course:
If a contested matter is likely to raise unsettled and complex legal issues under the federal securities laws, or interpretation of the Commission's rules, consideration should be given to whether, in light of the Commission's expertise concerning those matters, obtaining a Commission decision on such issues, subject to appellate review in the ...
Earlier this week, the SEC approved a whistleblower award of between $1.4-1.6 million to a compliance officer. Ordinarily, the Commission will not consider information to be "derived from [a whistleblower's] independent knowledge or independent analysis" if the whistleblower "obtained the information because" the whistleblower was "[a]n employee whose principal duties involve compliance or internal audit responsibilities . . . ." 17 C.F.R. § 240.21F-4(b)(4)(iii)(B). The case fell within an exception to the compliance-officer exclusion, because the Commission ...
The Securities and Exchange Commission announced on March 25, 2015 a proposal to amend Rule 15b9-1 under the Exchange Act to require broker-dealers who trade in off-exchange venues to become members of a national securities association. According to the SEC's press release, "the amendments would enhance regulatory oversight of active proprietary trading firms, such as high frequency traders." Under this proposal, such broker-dealers would be regulated not only by the SEC, but also the industry's self-regulatory agency, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority ...
After seeking comments last fall, the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") recently approved the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority's ("FINRA") proposed rule governing member firms' verification and investigation of associated persons applying for registration with a member firm. Specifically, the Rule, which is based largely on NASD Rule 3010(e), requires member firms to investigate the qualifications and experience of its applicants as well as adopt written procedures designed to verify the accuracy of the disclosures contained in an applicant's ...
The Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") was recently granted a preliminary agreement by a federal judge to bar a municipal official from participating in future bond sales. As reported by the Wall Street Journal, the move marks a new enforcement method utilized by the SEC and was undertaken pursuant to the SEC's broad antifraud authority. While the SEC has received preliminary agreement in one case, other requests are still outstanding. The preliminary agreement awarded to the SEC involved a Harvey, Illinois city official who allegedly diverted municipal bonds for ...
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