These are some of the compliance-related stories that recently caught my attention.
SEC Enforcement & Venue: A Question of Fairness in SECActions
ow is the time for the Commission to step-up and be a leader in the effort to instill a new fairness in the administrative enforcement process. That begins with a recognition that not every case can effectively be adjudicated in an administrative forum. Some cases, for example, may require extensive discovery by those charged; some cases may need the rigors of the rules of evidence; and some cases may be fact intensive, requiring a jury to hear the case. Others may require securities expertise from the trier of fact of the type possessed by ALJs. One size does not fit all. [More…]
Lawmakers urge SEC to retool Reg BI by Anne Sherry, J.D. in Jim Hamilton’s World of Securities Regulation
The ranking members of four House and Senate committees are leading a call for the SEC to revise Regulation Best Interest, asserting that the proposed rule does not quite satisfy the agency’s Congressional mandate and that it falls short of protecting investors. In the letter to SEC Chairman Jay Clayton, the lawmakers urge the SEC to amend the proposal before it is finalized, even if it means re-proposing the rulemaking. [More…]
Did Deregulation End the “Quiet Period” of Low-Risk Banking? by Paul G. Mahoney in the CLS Blue Sky Blog
But I remain convinced that I’m right on the big picture: It’s a Wonderful Life-style banking (taking demand deposits paying 0 percent and savings deposits paying 2.5 percent, making mortgage loans paying 5.5 percent, pocketing the difference and going home at 3:00) existed because it was a wonderful economy. It was inevitable that banking would become different, and riskier, once that environment changed. The details might have come out differently, but change and additional risk were unavoidable. [More…]
Cycling, Courtesy and the Compliance Profession by Tom Fox in FCPA Compliance & Ethics
Once upon a time I had a burgeoning cycling career. That ended when I was taken out by a Hummer on a training ride (Final score Hummer 1 – Tom 0). However, I still cycle regularly and enjoy watching the Tour de France and hearing about Doug Corneilus’s annual PanMass ride. I also still enjoy the occasional non-drug related cycling story. When you couple the above with a story from one of my favorite sportswriters, Jason Gay from the Wall Street Journal, you can see my interest when Gay’s piece yesterday was entitled “She Just Rode 184 MPH on a Bicycle. Really.” In my cycling career it was possible for me to reach up to 40 mph on flat ground and higher going down hills, although by that time I was usually too mortified to look at my odometer to see the speed I had achieved. Yet here was Denise Mueller-Korenek, a 47-year-old,who broke the all-time land speed record for bicycles, literally hitting 184 mph. [More…]