The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System added two additional questions and answers to its Volcker Rule FAQs. New question number seventeen deals with compliance procedures for market making desks and the identification of covered funds. New question number eighteen discusses CEO certification for prime brokerage transactions.
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The CFTC settled charges against an investment bank that failed to disclose certain conflicts of interest to clients. Specifically, the bank failed to disclose its preference for investing client funds in certain commodity pools or exempt pools, namely hedge funds and mutual funds managed and operated by an affiliate and subsidiary of the bank. The CFTC required the bank to pay a $40 million civil monetary penalty, to disgorge $60 million and to cease and desist from further violations.
FINRA ordered an investment bank to pay more than $10 million in restitution for suitability violations relating to mutual fund transactions. FINRA found that from January 2010 through June 2015, the bank's supervisory systems were not sufficient to prevent unsuitable switching. In particular, the firm incorrectly defined a mutual switch in its supervisory procedures to require three separate transactions within a certain time frame. Based on this incorrect definition, the bank (i) failed to act on thousands of automated alerts for potentially unsuitable transactions, (ii) excluded
Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew testified that "the financial system [is] safer, more resilient, and supportive of long-term economic growth" as a result of the creation of the Financial Stability Oversight Council.
The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System provided guidance on the process to be used by banking entities seeking an extension to continue to retain investments that qualify as "illiquid funds."