SIFMA and other financial associations urged the SEC to recognize electronic delivery as the primary method for the delivery of investor communications.
SEC Director of the Division of Enforcement Stephanie Avakian highlighted efforts "to combat wrongdoing, compensate harmed investors, and maintain confidence in the integrity and fairness of our markets."
In two new studies funded by the FINRA Investor Education Foundation, researchers found correlations between financial confidence and financial literacy and cognitive health in older persons.
The Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations alerted firms to the increased prevalence of "credential stuffing," a cyberattack method that involves the use of automated scripts to attempt to log into customer accounts using stolen personal information.
In a study funded by FINRA's Investor Education Foundation, researchers found that financial overconfidence (i.e., high confidence in an individual's financial knowledge relative to their actual financial literacy) may result in excessive financial risk-taking.
An SEC final rule designed to improve the accuracy and transparency of information provided by proxy advisory firms was published in the Federal Register.
FINRA proposed amendments to the Security Futures Risk Disclosure Statement to reflect recent changes on position limits for security futures contracts, market-wide circuit breaker benchmarks and thresholds, and that exchanges may now list security futures on certain debt instruments.
An investment adviser settled SEC charges for failing to disclose to its clients compensation that its affiliated broker received for investments recommended to them by the adviser.
The Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations identified compliance issues for broker-dealers and investment advisers resulting from market volatility and operational disruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The President's Working Group on Financial Markets made several recommendations to the SEC addressing the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board's lack of access to auditors of Chinese companies listed in the United States.
The North American Securities Administrators Association urged the DOL not to adopt a proposed class exemption under ERISA, arguing that it would "jeopardize" the security of retirement investors.
Two affiliated registered SEC firms, one of which was an adviser and the other, a dually registered adviser and introducing broker, settled SEC charges for making material misrepresentations to the advisers' clients.
The SEC Staff Standards of Conduct Implementation Committee concluded that broker-dealers and investment advisers are complying with content and format requirements on Customer Relationship Summaries.
An investment adviser settled SEC charges for failing to disclose that: (i) the adviser's parent company paid a teachers' union-owned for-profit entity to promote the adviser's services to teachers; and (ii) the adviser received financial benefits as a direct result of investment recommendations that were more expensive than other options available to clients.
The North American Securities Administrators Association examined issues of diminished capacity and cognitive impairment that impact financial professionals.
At an Asset Management Advisory Committee meeting, SEC officials considered the issues of (i) diversity and inclusion and (ii) technology and data in the asset management industry.
The CFTC Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight extended temporary no-action relief from July 23, 2020 to September 30, 2020 to principals and associated persons from rules requiring a fingerprint card when registering with the Commission.
The Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations alerted market participants to reports of sophisticated ransomware attacks targeting SEC registrants and their service providers.
The CFTC deemed invalid the CPO registration exemptions of 17 foreign entities as a result of a special call by the Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight.
A CFTC final rule aimed at preventing certain bad actors from seeking exemptions from registration as CPOs under CFTC Rule 4.13 ("Exemption from Registration as a Commodity Pool Operator") was published in the Federal Register.
