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Last Entry: March 31, 2011 at 16:18:26

Regulators Crack Down on Broker-Dealers Involved in Sales of Unregistered Penny Stocks

Posted on April 27, 2010
Both FINRA and the SEC announced enforcement actions against broker-dealers involving sales of unregistered penny stocks by their customers, although there is no indication in the releases that they are related. FINRA fined five broker-dealers a total of $385,000 for...

Goldman Sachs Center Stage at Senate Hearing Tomorrow

Posted on April 26, 2010
Tomorrow the Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, chaired by Senator Carl Levin, will hold another hearing on the causes of the financial crisis. This one focuses on The Role of Investment Banks, and every single witness will be from Goldman...

Treasury Announces Plan to Sell Citigroup Common Stock

Posted on April 26, 2010
The U.S. Department of the Treasury today announced the next steps in its plan to sell approximately 7.7 billion shares of Citigroup common stock. Citigroup filed a prospectus supplement with the SEC covering Treasury's sale of this common stock. Treasury...

GAO Issues New Report on SEC's Fair Fund Collections and Distributions

Posted on April 22, 2010
Since Sarbanes-Oxley gave the SEC the authority to distribute civil penalties to investors harmed by a corporation's fraud (the "Fair Fund" provision), the GAO has issued a number of reports and a series of recommendations on improving the collection and...

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GAO Issues Report on Efforts by SEC and CFTC To Harmonize Regulation

Posted on April 22, 2010
The GAO released a report entitled Clearer Goals and Reporting Requirements Could Enhance Efforts by CFTC and SEC to Harmonize Their Regulatory Approaches. Perhaps that title says it all, but here is the GAO's summary: The conference report accompanying the...

President Obama's Vision for Financial Regulatory Reform

Posted on April 22, 2010
The White House released the transcript of President Obama's speech on financial reform in New York City today. In it the President set forth his vision of financial reform -- what he described as "a set of updated, commonsense rules...

SEC Charges Detroit Private Equity Fund with Stealing Money from Public Pension Funds

Posted on April 22, 2010
The SEC charged Detroit-based Onyx Capital Advisors LLC and its founder Roy Dixon, Jr. with participating in a fraudulent scheme through which they stole more than $3 million invested by three Detroit-area public pension funds. The SEC alleges that defendants...

FINRA Settles ARS Charges with HSBC Securities (US) & US Bancorp Investments

Posted on April 22, 2010
FINRA settled charges with two additional firms relating to the sale of auction rate securities (ARS) that became illiquid when auctions froze in February 2008 ? HSBC Securities (USA) and US Bancorp Investments, Inc. To date, FINRA has concluded ARS-related...

Senate Agriculture Committee Approves Derivatives Bill

Posted on April 21, 2010
The Senate Agriculture Committee voted 13-8 to approve a bill that would require tough regulation of the derivatives market. Charles Grassley was the lone Republican to vote in favor of the bill. The bill would require most derivatives to be...

GM Repays $4.7 Billion TARP Debt

Posted on April 21, 2010
The U.S. Department of the Treasury today announced that General Motors (GM) has fully repaid its debt under the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). GM paid the remaining $4.7 billion of the total $6.7 billion in debt owed to Treasury....

SEC Charges Yet Another Ponzi Scheme

Posted on April 21, 2010
The SEC filed an injunctive action against Nevin K. Shapiro, the president, Chief Executive Officer and sole shareholder of Capitol Investments USA Inc., (Capitol), a Miami Beach, Florida-based grocery diverter, alleging that he conducted a $900 million fraud targeting more...

Geithner Testifies at House Financial Services Hearing on Lehman

Posted on April 20, 2010
More from the House Financial Services Hearing today on the Lehman Examiner's Report: Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner Written Testimony before the House Financial Services Committee Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner Opening Statement as Prepared for Delivery before the House Committee on...

Treasury Announces How It Voted Citigroup Shares

Posted on April 20, 2010
The U.S. Department of the Treasury announced that it has voted its approximately 7.7 billion shares of Citigroup Inc. common stock at the Citigroup Annual Meeting held today. According to its release: Treasury has exercised its discretionary voting power by...

Schapiro Testifies on Lehman Failure

Posted on April 20, 2010
Testimony Concerning the Lehman Brothers Examiner's Report, by SEC Chairman Mary L. Schapiro Before the House Financial Services Committee, April 20, 2010

SEC and Schottenfeld Group Settles Insider Trading Charges

Posted on April 20, 2010
On April 19, 2010, The Honorable Jed S. Rakoff, United States District Judge, United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, issued an order approving a settlement with Schottenfeld Group, LLC ("Schottenfeld Group") in SEC v. Galleon...

SEC Charges New York Investment Advisory Firm with Internet Scam

Posted on April 20, 2010
The SEC charged Gryphon Holdings Inc., a Staten Island, N.Y.-based investment advisory firm, its owner, and four associates with operating an Internet-based scam that misleads investors into paying fees for phony stock tips and investment advice from fictional trading experts...

FINRA Releases Guidance on Reg D Offering Duties

Posted on April 20, 2010
FINRA announced the publication of guidance for FINRA-registered firms about their obligations regarding customer suitability, disclosures and other requirements for selling private placements to customers. FINRA Regulatory Notice 10-22 reinforces and details a broker-dealer's obligation to conduct a reasonable investigation...

SEC and Stockman Settle Collins & Aikman Fraud Charges

Posted on April 19, 2010
The SEC reached settlements in SEC v. Collins & Aikman Corp., et al., No. 07-CV-2419 (SAS) (S.D.N.Y.) with defendants David A. Stockman ("Stockman"), J. Michael Stepp ("Stepp"), Elkin B. McCallum ("McCallum"), David R. Cosgrove ("Cosgrove"), and Paul C...

NASAA Seeks Reforms in Reg D Rule 506 Offerings

Posted on April 19, 2010
NASAA Statement on Reforms Needed to Protect Investors in Regulation D Rule 506 Offerings: State securities regulators urge the Senate to protect investors by amending the Banking Committee's recently approved reform package to stop securities law violators from conducting private...

House Financial Services Committee Announces Hearing on Lehman Bankruptcy Report

Posted on April 19, 2010
Sometimes I wonder how Geithner, Bernanke and Schapiro can ever get any work accomplished, since they spend so much of their time testifying before Congressional committees and panels. Tomorrow the House Financial Services Committee will hold a hearing on ?Public...

Fuld Says Examiner and Press Distorted Facts about Repo 105

Posted on April 19, 2010
Richard Fuld, former Lehman CEO, will testify tomorrow before the House Financial Services Committee. Here is an excerpt from his written testimony about the much-criticized Repo 105: The Examiner did take issue, though, with Lehman?s ?Repo 105? sale transactions...

SEC Split on Whether to Sue Goldman

Posted on April 19, 2010
More on the Goldman fraud charges, from the Wall St. Journal: The SEC split 3-2 on whether to bring the fraud charges, with Chair Schapiro joining Democrats Walter and Aguilar and Republican Commissioners Casey and Paredes voting against. WSJ, SEC...

FINRA Proposes Expanded Disclosure in BrokerCheck

Posted on April 19, 2010
FINRA has filed with the SEC a proposed rule change to amend FINRA Rule 8312 (FINRA BrokerCheck Disclosure) that will significantly expand the information released through BrokerCheck, both in terms of scope and time disclosed. In addition, the new rule...

Goldman Defense: We Lost $90 Million on the Deal

Posted on April 17, 2010
From the Goldman Sachs press release about the SEC allegations: We are disappointed that the SEC would bring this action related to a single transaction in the face of an extensive record which establishes that the accusations are unfounded in...

SEC's Inspector General: Fort Worth Enforcement Knew of Stanford's Ponzi Scheme Since 1997

Posted on April 17, 2010
I mentioned yesterday that the SEC Chair issued a response to the SEC Inspector General's critical report on the handling of the Stanford matter. Here is the report itself. The OIG was charged with looking into what, if any, indications...

Business Groups Oppose Corporate Governance Measures

Posted on April 16, 2010
A number of influential business groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, have signed on to a Multi-industry letter regarding the so-called "corporate governance" provisions of the "Restoring American Financial Stability Act." According to the signatories, a right to proxy...

Schapiro Releases Response to Agency's Performance in Stanford Fraud

Posted on April 16, 2010
The SEC's Office of Inspector General has apparently released a report critical of the agency's performance in failing to detect the Stanford fraud earlier. I can't find the report on the OIG website, but Chair Schapiro has released a response...

SEC Charges Goldman with Fraud in Structuring and Marketing CDO Tied to Subprime Mortgages

Posted on April 16, 2010
The big news this afternoon is the SEC complaint filed in S.D.N.Y. raising serious allegations about Goldman Sachs in structuring and marketing a synthetic CDO that hinged on the performance of subprime residential mortgage-backed securities. According to the complaint, Goldman...

Schapiro Makes the Case for SEC Self-Funding

Posted on April 16, 2010
Here is Mary Schapiro's recent statement making the case for self-funding. I was recently asked what I thought about self-funding for the SEC, and I confess that I am undecided on the issue. Certainly in the past the agency has...

SEC Charges Private Equity Firm in New York Pension Plan Kickback Scheme

Posted on April 15, 2010
The SEC today announced charges against Quadrangle Group LLC and Quadrangle GP Investors II, L.P. in connection with the Commission's ongoing investigation into a multi-billion dollar kickback scheme involving New York's largest pension fund. The Quadrangle defendants agreed to settle...

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