Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) introduced a bill titled "The Offshore Reinsurance Tax Fairness Act" (the "Bill"). The Bill is intended to address the concern that hedge funds (and their investors) are bypassing the passive foreign investment company ("PFIC") tax regime by holding investments through offshore reinsurance companies. Generally, the PFIC rules prevent a U.S. investor in a PFIC from deferring tax on its passive income derived from its investment in that PFIC. Under an exception, however, income derived from the active conduct of an insurance business by a foreign corporation that is

SIFMA sent a letter to Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Senator Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) expressing "strong support" for the Robert Matava Elder Abuse Victims Act of 2015 (the "Act"). Versions of the Act have been proposed, but not adopted, in prior Congressional sessions. SIFMA stated that the Act will better protect elder Americans from abuse and financial exploitation. Specifically, SIFMA commended the Act's requirement that the Attorney General and the Department of Health and Human Services collect statistical data from federal and state law enforcement agencies involving elder abuse

The Bank for International Settlements ("BIS") issued its annual report for the financial year ending on March 21, 2015. In the report, the BIS stated that interest rates have been low for the longest time in history. According to the BIS, those rates fueled costly financial booms instead of sparking sustainable and balanced global expansion. The BIS maintained that monetary policy continued to be "exceptionally accommodative," with many regulators delaying tightening regulation. It noted that central bank balance sheets remained at unprecedented high levels. The BIS states that the

The SEC announced fraud charges against an investment advisory firm and its owner for engaging in a "cherry-picking" scheme. The SEC alleged that the investment manager purchased options in an omnibus account, or master account, and delayed the allocation of the purchases to either his or his clients' accounts until later in the day after he saw whether or not the securities appreciated in value. According to the SEC, this action is the first arising from its effort to utilize data to identify potentially fraudulent trade allocations known as "cherry-picking." SEC Division of Enforcement staff

The SEC charged a private equity adviser with misallocating "broken-deal" expenses to its flagship private equity funds in breach of its fiduciary duty. An SEC investigation found that over a six-year period, the adviser incurred $338 million in broken-deal or diligence expenses related to unsuccessful buyout opportunities. According to the SEC, the adviser did not allocate any portion of these broken-deal expenses to any of the firm's co-investors for years. The SEC also found that the adviser did not disclose expressly in its partnership agreements or related offering materials that it did