On October 30, 2013, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced that is has awarded $150,000 to an anonymous whistleblower. It is the sixth award since the SEC Whistleblower program began two years ago. So far, the largest award is $14 million. Under the SEC’s program, persons who voluntarily provide original information about a possible securities…
On April 22, 2013, George Canellos and Andrew Ceresney were named as SEC’s Division of Enforcement co-directors. Both have ties to SEC’s new chairman Mary Jo White. Canellos worked as an assistant attorney to Ms. White while she was the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York in the 1990s to early 2000s.…
On April 19, 2013, the FINRA Board of Governors approved several proposed rule changes that now will be submitted to the SEC for review and approval. Two that center on the FINRA arbitration process are detailed below: First, the Board authorized FINRA to file with the SEC proposed amendments to FINRA Rule 12403 which would…
On April 19, 2013, Rep. Maxine Waters introduced legislation that would allow the SEC to charge user fees to investment advisors to fund their oversight. Ms. Waters said that the SEC needs a source of revenue dedicated to regulating advisors and the bill would authorize fees to fund investment advisor examinations. Under the bill, the…
On April 12, 2013, we posted a blog entitled FINRA Charges Discount Firm with Fraudulent Sales, which detailed FINRA’s complaint against Success Trade Securities Inc, an online discount firm, and its CEO, Fuad Ahmed alleging fraudulent sales of promissory notes. New details are emerging in this case. Yahoo! Sports reports that many of Success Trade…
On April 18, 2013, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released a report that detailed its view that regulators need to do more to stop older Americans from being confused by “the scores of senior designations that financial advisors use.” The CFPB believes the SEC should consider setting up a centralized tool for investors to…
On April 17, 2013, NASAA members visited Washington D.C. to raise support among lawmakers to help their effort to restrict, or end, the use of mandatory arbitration clauses in client contracts with brokers. SEC Commissioner Luis Aguilar agrees with them. In a speech at the NASAA conference on April 16, 2013, Aguilar called for an…
On April 12, 2013, we posted a blog entitled In Proposal, SEC’s Budget to Oversee Investment Advisors Increased, which detailed the recent federal budget proposal that would increase the SEC’s funding by $256 million to allow the SEC to hire hundreds of examiners to increase investment advisor oversight. On April 16, 2013, however, SEC member…
Florida legislation, likely to be enacted Summer 2013, will make broker dealer and investment advisor branch office set-up instantaneous. A bill that would replace the current registration process with one that grants instant approval once an application is filed has been approved by the financial committees in the Florida state House and Senate. Under current…
On April 12, 2013, FINRA announced that has filed a complaint against Success Trade Securities Inc, an online discount firm, and its CEO, Fuad Ahmed. The complaint alleges that Success Trade Securities Inc. fraudulently sold more than $18 million in promissory notes to 58 investors, most of them former professional football and basketball players. The…
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