Last week, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced that SEC Chief of Staff Lona Nallengara will be leaving the agency at the end of June. According to the press release, Mr. Nallengara was well accomplished. Before his appointment as … Read More
Because the world of compliance is ever-changing, with some areas being elusive, Core Compliance stresses the importance of continuing education. Last week the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) released the schedule for Compliance Outreach Program seminars. This year, 6 major … Read More
Last week, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced that Marc Wyatt will succeed Andrew Bowden as the Acting Director of the Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (“OCIE”). Although Wyatt has been with the SEC since 2012, for … Read More
Over the past few years, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) has made it very clear that bringing enforcement actions for misconduct remains one of its top priorities. In 2014, the SEC reported having charged 80 people in cases involving … Read More
A few weeks ago, we wrote a blog highlighting the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s (“MSRB”) proposal for professional qualification standards for municipal advisors Well, the qualification standards are no longer a proposal. Today, the Securities & Exchange Commission (“SEC”) approved the … Read More
A Colorado-based pyramid and Ponzi scheme that boasts returns of 700 percent has been charged with fraud by the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). Since April 2014, Kristin Johnson and Troy Barnes who operated under “The Achieve Community,” … Read More
Individuals who perform “municipal advisory activities, such as providing financial advice to state and local governments on municipal bond issuances” may soon be required to be licensed by passing a basic competency exam. During their recent quarterly board meeting, the … Read More
In the last Core Compliance blog post, we highlighted our 2015 Compliance Predictions, shortly before the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) released the National Examination Program’s priorities for 2015. The list, which is relatively short compared to previous years’, … Read More
December 2014 “In the past few years, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) has taken a tougher stance against recidivist behavior by registered investment advisory firms (“RIAs”). Recidivism refers to occurrences where an RIA has not corrected deficiencies noted in … Read More
Eight audit firms spanning across the U.S. were recently sanctioned by the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) for failing to adhere to the auditor independence rules set forth in Rule 17(a)-5 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during their … Read More