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SEC Staff Issues Legal Bulletin on Proxy Voting
On June 30, the SEC staff issued a legal bulletin on proxy voting. The bulletin was issued jointly by the staff of the Division of Investment Management and the Division of Corporation Finance and...
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High Frequency Traders as Dealers? Issues Ahead
A recent client alert from Morgan Lewis outlines the challenges that may lie ahead should SEC Chair Mary Jo White pursue an idea she outlined in a recent speech that would require high frequency...
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Competition and Technology in the Securities Markets
As a follow up to her recent speech outlining her plan to address market structure issues, SEC Chair Mary Jo White addressed the importance of technology and competition in developing a regulatory...
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SEC Chair: Directors are Essential Gatekeepers
In a speech at the Stanford Directors’ College, SEC Chair Mary Jo White shared the SEC’s views on directors. She reiterated the concept that directors are “essential gatekeepers” working on behalf of...
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Recent Paper Questions Benefits of More Disclosure
The paper Optimal Disclosure When Some Information is Soft, describes the authors’ belief that current disclosure regime emphasizes the disclosure of hard versus soft information, creating an...
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New York Attorney General Sues Dark Pool
The New York Attorney general has alleged that Barclays LX, a dark pool operated by Barclays Capital, falsely told institutional investors that it had systems in place to protect their trades and...
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SEC Brings First Case of Whistleblower Retaliation
The SEC has settled its first case under its authority to bring cases for retaliation against whistleblowers. According to Sean McKessy, chief of the SEC’s Office of the Whistleblower, “[w]e will...
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SEC Meeting Set to Consider Adoption of Money Market Fund Amendments, New...
The Securities and Exchange Commission will hold an open meeting on July 23 to consider whether to adopt amendments to the rule governing money market funds. In addition, the SEC will consider two...
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SEC Orders Tick Size Pilot Program
The SEC recently ordered the national securities exchanges and FINRA to develop a pilot program designed to study the effect of widening quote and trading limitations for certain small and...
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Supreme Court Upholds “Fraud on the Market” Theory in Securities Class Actions
In Halliburton v. Erica P. John Fund, the Supreme Court upheld its previous ruling that plaintiffs in class actions can rely on the “fraud-on-the-market” presumption. In securities fraud actions...
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SEC 2015 Exam Priorities May Include Sale of High-Cost Mutual Funds
A preliminary version of next year’s Securities and Exchange Commission examination priorities includes a focus on high-cost mutual funds, according to Reuters. Kevin Goodman, the head of the...
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SEC Adopts Two-Pronged Approach to Money Market Fund Reforms
Yesterday, the Securities and Exchange Commission finally reached a conclusion on how it would alter its approach to regulating money market funds in response to concerns that these funds can pose...
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SEC Re-Proposes Credit Rating-Related Changes For Money Market Funds
Driven by a provision of the Dodd-Frank Act that requires federal agencies to remove references to credit rating agencies in regulations, the Securities and Exchange Commission re-proposed eliminating...
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Director of Office of Financial Research Calls for Better Data to Address...
Richard Berner, Director of the Office of Financial Research (OFR) at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, emphasized the need for better data and analysis to address gaps that pose a risk for...
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Treasury Secretary Encourages Enhanced Cybersecurity Efforts, Increased...
In a recent speech, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew called on the financial sector to step up efforts on cybersecurity. Lew cited recent events such as the Target data breach and over 250 attacks aimed at...
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Director of SEC’S Division of Investment Management Highlights Industry...
The SEC’s Director of the Division of Investment Management, Norm Champ, recently spoke at the Insured Retirement Institute Government, Legal & Regulatory Conference. Champ emphasized the Division...
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Calls for Market Structure Review at House-Hosted Round Table
The leaders of several exchanges and trading firms recently expressed support for a review of market structure. Speaking at a roundtable hosted by Congressman Scott Garrett (chair of the Capital...
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FSOC May Opt for Oversight for Asset Management Activities, Avoid SIFI...
The Financial Stability Oversight Council may push regulators to impose more stringent industry-wide oversight, as opposed to labeling individual asset managers systemically important. According to a...
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Senators Express Concern About Pace of Asset-Backed Securities-Related...
A group of eleven senators expressed concern about the speed of rulemaking in a letter to SEC Chair Mary Jo White last week. The letter asserted that the SEC has prioritized “discretionary actions” at...
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Senators Call for Outline of SIFI Regulation Prior to Any Asset Manager...
A group of nine senators urged Treasury Secretary Jack Lew to consider the impact on asset managers before applying a systemically important designation. The letter was sent the day before the FSOC...
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