SEC

The SEC decision ended a months-long rally that pushed the virtual money’s value higher than gold.

Even in the present deregulatory climate, the Treasury Department is pressing ahead with a rule to require advisors to screen for and report suspicious activity.

"The number of enforcement cases is likely to be down considerably going forward," said Urska Velikonja, a law professor at Emory University.

The acting head of OCIE says the commission has abandoned "wide, full-scope" scrutiny in favor of more targeted, risk-based reviews.

The wirehouse has already paid $415 million in fines and disgorged profits in a settlement.

Hope is dimming, but top Democrats like Sen. Elizabeth Warren and investor advocates are unlikely to relent in their efforts to preserve the regulation.

"To me, that rule, it was about one thing and it was about enabling trial lawyers to increase profits,” acting Chairman Michael Piwowar says.

Caution to advisers: If you cop a deal with the SEC for leniency, be sure to hold up your end of the bargain.

Too often, the agency overlooks the true impact of its policies, according to commission's investor advocate.

The deputy director of the agency's examinations unit, however, cautions that any such effort must be carefully coordinated.