1/18/2019

DEMS/SEC/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump has failed to advance Democratic nominees to three key financial regulatory agencies for months, breaking yet another Washington tradition and sparing Wall Street companies from enforcement penalties. Slots at the SEC, the FDIC and the National Credit Union Administration have gone unfilled because the White House has not nominated […]

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8/17/2018

SEC/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “U.S. President Donald Trump said Friday {8-17-18] that he wanted the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to explore doing away with quarterly corporate reports, replacing them with filings every six months. In a tweet, he argued a longer time frame would ‘allow greater flexibility & save money.’ But any such policy change […]

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8/17/2018

SEC/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Trump asked the Securities and Exchange Commission to consider eliminating requirements that publicly traded companies post quarterly earnings reports, a move that could do away with a cornerstone of American capital markets. In a message posted on Twitter early Friday [8-17-18], the president wrote that he had directed the regulator to […]

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8/17/2018

BUSINESS/SEC/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “In speaking with some of the world’s top business leaders I asked what it is that would make business (jobs) even better in the U.S. ‘Stop quarterly reporting & go to a six month system,’ said one. That would allow greater flexibility & save money. I have asked the SEC to study!” […]

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4/23/2018

SEC/SUPREME COURT/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “U.S. Supreme Court justices on Monday [4-23-18] appeared divided over a challenge to the constitutionality of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s selection of in-house judges to enforce investor protection laws in a case involving a former radio host and investment adviser backed by the Trump administration. The court heard arguments in […]

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2/16/2018

CHINA/SEC/TRADE DEALS: “U.S. regulators rejected a bid by a Chinese-linked consortium to take over the Chicago Stock Exchange, extinguishing an ambitious dream of starting an international listing venue from a minuscule market. The Securities and Exchange Commission’s decision ends a process that lasted two years and took place in the crucible of a presidential campaign […]

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2/5/2018

CYBERWAR/SEC/TRADE DEALS: “Digital currencies such as bitcoin were in the spotlight again on Tuesday [2-6-18] as lawmakers in the U.S. Senate questioned top markets watchdogs over how to better regulate the highly volatile and risky emerging asset class. Christopher Giancarlo, chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and Jay Clayton, chairman of the Securities […]

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1/30/2018

SEC: “The latest caper in the fast-moving world of initial coin offerings comes from a company that aimed to raise $1 billion and claimed to raise $600 million. In reality, it may not have raised much more than $1 million. Federal regulators moved to halt the coin offering of Dallas-based AriseBank, in one of the […]

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Posted in SEC

1/6/2018

LEGAL/SEC/TRUMP FAMILY/JARED KUSHNER: “The Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating the real-estate company run by the family of President Donald Trump’s senior adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner for its use of a federal investment-for-visa program known as EB-5, according to people familiar with the matter. In May 2017, Kushner Cos. received a subpoena from the […]

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12/12/2017

SEC: “The nation’s main audit regulator is getting a full makeover. Five new members were appointed Tuesday [12-12-17] to oversee the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, a regulator of auditors who examine the books of publicly traded companies. The picks include William Duhnke, a Republican Senate aide who will be the board’s chairman, and James […]

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Posted in SEC

11/29/2017

JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/SEC/SUPREME COURT: “The Trump administration on Wednesday [11-29-17] abandoned its defense of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s in-house judicial system, siding with opponents who say the hiring process for the SEC’s judges is unconstitutional. In a brief filed with the U.S. Supreme Court, lawyers for the Justice Department wrote they now consider the SEC’s […]

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11/12/2017

SEC: “The watchdog for the Securities and Exchange Commission, who encourages staff at the top securities regulator to blow the whistle on misconduct and fraud, is himself the subject of complaints by several whistleblowers. Carl Hoecker, the SEC inspector general, is tasked with rooting out malpractice at the agency. His team investigates alleged misconduct by […]

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Posted in SEC

10/25/2017

JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/SEC: “The U.S. Justice Department is weighing whether a financial enforcement task force created during the Obama administration in the wake of the housing crisis is still relevant, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said Wednesday [10-25-17]. The department’s scrutiny of the Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force is part of a broader review by a […]

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9/26/2017

CYBERWAR/SEC: “U.S. senators, already facing distress calls from constituents over the Equifax Inc. hack, criticized the Securities and Exchange Commission’s new leader on Tuesday for how the agency handled a 2016 breach of its cornerstone system for storing market-moving information… Facing his first crisis as the SEC’s chairman, Jay Clayton suggested during a hearing that […]

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9/26/2017

FBI/SEC: “Investigators from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Securities and Exchange Commission are looking into business practices at Renovate America Inc., the largest provider of energy-saving home-improvement loans, according to people familiar with the matter and documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. Scott McKinlay, Renovate America’s chief legal officer, said in a […]

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9/20/2017

CYBERWAR/SEC: “The top U.S. markets regulator disclosed Wednesday [9-20-17] that hackers penetrated its electronic system for storing public-company filings last year and may have traded on the information. The Securities and Exchange Commission’s chairman, Jay Clayton, revealed the breach in an unusual and lengthy statement issued Wednesday evening that didn’t provide many details about the […]

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8/31/2017

NOMINATIONS/SEC/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to nominate Columbia University law professor Robert Jackson to be a member of the Securities and Exchange Commission, a person with knowledge of the matter said on Thursday. Jackson is expected to be formally nominated on Friday, the source said. He would fill a vacant spot […]

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7/25/2017

ECONOMY/SEC: “The Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday [7-25-17]moved to restrain a hot new fundraising method involving sales of digital coins, saying rules meant for everyday stock sales may apply to these offerings, too. The comments were the first from the SEC specifically to address initial coin offerings, a nascent area where more than $1 […]

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7/20/2017

DODD-FRANK/SEC: “Several regulators have dropped pursuit of a long-running plan to restrict bonuses on Wall Street, as part of a wider effort to stop working on unfinished rules put in place after the financial crisis. Government agencies, including the Securities and Exchange Commission and several banking regulators, were directed under the 2010 Dodd-Frank law to […]

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7/18/2017

NOMINATIONS/SEC/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “U.S. President Donald Trump intends to nominate former Senate Republican aide Hester Maria Peirce to be a member of the Securities and Exchange Commission, the White House said on Tuesday [7-18-17]. Peirce is a former Senate Banking Committee staff member and currently is the director of the Financial Markets Working Group at […]

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6/7/2017

CHINA/SEC: “The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission will take up to another 60 days to decide whether to allow the sale of the Chicago Stock Exchange to a group of investors led by China-based Chongqing Casin Enterprise Group. The SEC, which reviews proposed mergers involving exchanges to ensure they comply with federal regulations and appropriately […]

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6/5/2017

SEC/SUPREME COURT: “The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday [6-5-17] scaled back the Securities and Exchange Commission’s power to recover ill-gotten profits from defendants’ misconduct, handing Wall Street firms a victory and dealing another blow to the regulator’s enforcement powers. In a 9-0 ruling, the Supreme Court found that the SEC’s recovery remedy known as ‘disgorgement’ […]

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5/29/2017

SEC: “The nation’s top securities regulator is going to have a decidedly Sullivan & Cromwell look to it. Jay Clayton, who left Sullivan & Cromwell, the prominent New York law firm, to become the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, is expected to tap his former colleague Steven R. Peikin to serve as the […]

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Posted in SEC

04/04/2017

POLITICS/SEC/TRUMP PEOPLE/JAY CLAYTON: “The Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday approved Jay Clayton to head the Securities and Exchange Commission in the Trump administration, sending the nominee to the Senate floor for a final vote. Mr. Clayton has called for scaling back regulations to prod more companies to go public while expressing skepticism that large corporate […]

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04/11/2017

DODD-FRANK/OBAMA/POLITICS/SEC: “A key House lawmaker on Tuesday [4-11-17] unveiled changes to his proposal to roll back Obama-era financial rules, promising regulatory relief for banks if they hold enough capital and provisions aimed at spurring more companies to go public. The summary of proposed legislation from House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R., Texas) shows […]

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3/08/2017

CABINET/SEC/TRUMP PEOPLE/JAY CLAYTON: “After spending years cultivating an elite roster of Wall Street and corporate clients, Jay Clayton will now be responsible for policing some of those same types of companies. Mr. Clayton, a longtime partner at the law firm Sullivan & Cromwell who is President Trump’s pick to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission, […]

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