Compliance

The Securities and Exchange Commission Friday approved the expansion of its post-Flash Crash circuit breaker program to include all stocks in the Russell 1000 Index and a test group of exchange-traded funds.

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The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board has issued draft guidance warning broker’s brokers of their obligations under its rules following recent enforcement actions by the Securities Exchange Commission and the Financial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

The Securities and Exchange Commission is likely to revise its approach to circuit breakers on the nation’s equities exchanges, 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.

Putnam Investments requested Congress pass two recently-introduced bills that would require employers to automatically enroll employees in a payroll-deduction IRA.

Represented by an influential lobbying group, broker-dealers are striking out against proposed regulations which would require them to adhere to an equal “fiduciary” standard with registered investment advisors in giving advice to retail investors.

Argues it wasn't the only money market fund to break the buck.only

Though Democrats scored a big political victory in passing regulatory reform, many are already paying for it as the financial services industry directs more of its contributions toward Republicans and moderates who tried to pare back the revamp.

Reserve Funds filed with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York Friday to dismiss a class-action lawsuit originated by Third Avenue Managment over the Reserve Primary Fund. The Third Avenue Institutional Value Fund LP opposed the motion to dismiss on the grounds that Reserve misled investors into believing its once $62 billion Primary Fund was safe despite its $785 million exposure to Lehman Brothers paper.

John Harris wants the Securities and Exchange Commission to die. And the Texas native told it so, in no uncertain words, in a comment letter on August 12.

A closer look at the comments streaming in to the SEC regarding a new fiduciary standard.

Pinnacle Capital Markets has once again has been slapped with a fine for inadequate anti-money laundering and customer identification procedures involving foreign investors using its direct market access system.