SEC’s 2019 Exam Priorities

Perhaps the Securities and Exchange Commission saw the government shutdown coming when it published its 2019 exam priorities on December 20. Compliance and Risks in Critical Market Infrastructure – Examiners will focus on entities that provide services critical to the proper functioning of capital markets, including clearing agencies, national securities exchanges, and transfer agents FINRA … Read more »

Real Estate Cash Cow

With the Securities and Exchange Commission back up and running, we are seeing new enforcement actions coming out. A real estate fraud caught my attention. The SEC charged Phillip Michael Carter, Bobby Eugene Guess and Richard Tilford with raising almost $45 million from over 270 investors by selling short-term, high-yield promissory notes issued by shell … Read more »

Compliance Bricks and Mortar for January 19

These are some compliance-related stories that recently caught my attention: SEC Brings Enforcement Action for Failure to Verify Accredited Investor Status by Steve Quinlivan The SEC alleged CoinAlpha did not have pre-existing substantive relationships with nine of the fund’s investors and engaged in a general solicitation of public interest in the securities offering through CoinAlpha’s website, which … Read more »

Compliance Bricks and Mortar for November 30

These are some of the compliance-related stories that recently caught my attention. The Shift from Active to Passive Investing: Potential Risks to Financial Stability? by Patrick McCabe, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System In our working paper, we examine four channels by which the active-to-passive shift may affect financial stability: (1) effects on liquidity … Read more »