Regulation

Financial adviser to the stars Kenneth I. Starr, Starr & Co. pled guilty before the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York Friday to ripping off $50 million from A-listers including Wesley Snipes, Sylvester Stallone, Uma Thurman, Nora Ephron and Al Pacino.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority wants broker-dealers to be a lot more specific on the reasons for dismissing an employee in their reports to the regulator.

Douglas Lee Campbell, a former senior vice president and marketer in Bank of America’s municipal derivatives group, pleaded guilty Thursday to three criminal counts for engaging in bid-rigging and fraud conspiracies connected with guaranteed investment contract and other municipal finance agreements.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board has issued draft guidance warning broker’s brokers of their obligations under its rules following recent enforcement actions by the Securities Exchange Commission and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority alleging rule violations.

The Financial Services Authority said Thursday it fined Goldman Sachs $31 million for failing to notify the U.K. regulator that trader Fabrice Tourre was being investigated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

SEC Chairman notes there have been net redemptions from equity mutual funds every single week for the past four months.

Besides ensuring orderly pricing in equity markets, outflows from stock mutual funds that have occurred every single week in the four months since the May 6 Flash Crash, for estimated redemptions totaling more than $50 billion, are causing grave concerns at the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The Securities and Exchange Commission charged a Colorado investment adviser with deceiving elderly clients about the safety of putting their money into hedge funds.

The SEC is likely to revise its approach to circuit breakers to include a “careful review” of price bands that limit how far up or down the price of a stock can move at any given time.

The Securities and Exchange Commission will kick off its much-awaited series of hearings on the municipal market this month, holding the first on Tuesday, Sept. 21, in San Francisco.