Over the past couple of years, examiners with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (“FINRA”) have focused on how broker-dealers sell nontraded real estate investment trusts (“REITs”). Specifically, Susan Axelrod who is the Executive Vice President of Member Regulation Sales … Read More
A permanent private fund adviser exemption has been adopted by the California Department of Corporations (the “Department”). The exemption was effective August 27, 2012, following public comments first received between February 20th and March 25th, 2012. Several amendments were made … Read More
The Department of Labor has brought an inquiry whether JPMorgan Chase & Co. committed a fiduciary breach under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974. The inquiry is related to a stable-value fund and could target financial advisors. The … Read More
Rule 203(b) of Regulation SHO sets borrowing and delivery requirements for Short Sales. For example Regulation, SHO requires a market participant who seeks to effect a short sale to borrow, arrange to borrow, or have reasonable grounds to believe that … Read More
On May 31, 2012, FINRA filed a notice of the proposed rule change that would amend FINRA Rule 4210. Rule 4210 details the margin account requirements and collateral deposits required to be maintained. Specifically, the rule elucidates margin requirements for … Read More
The SEC has approved two proposals to limit the volatility of (1) individual stocks and (2) the market itself. The first proposal, named the National Market System Plan Approval Order (“NMSP”), can be found here and is designed to limit … Read More
As noted by the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, the Glass-Steagall Act (“GSA”) was intended to “separate the higher risk, often more leveraged, activities of investment banks from activities tied to the nation’s payments system and … Read More