The SEC published a notice in the Federal Register that requests comments about the extension of the collection of information from issuers under Regulation Blackout Trade Restriction ("Reg. BTR"). Reg. BTR clarifies the scope and application of Section 306(a) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Section 306(a)(6) requires an issuer to provide timely notice to its directors and executive officers, and to the SEC, of the imposition of a blackout period that would trigger the statutory trading prohibition of Section 306(a)(1). Section 306(a) prohibits any director or executive officer of an issuer of any

The Asset Management Group of SIFMA ("SIFMA AMG") submitted comments to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. The comments voice SIFMA AMG's opposition to the proposal that all U.S. financial service providers must complete a BE-180 survey if they meet the survey's criteria. See: SIFMA AMG Comment Letter.

The SEC charged the former CEO of technology firm Polycom Inc. with spending corporate funds on personal perks that were not disclosed to investors. The SEC alleged that the former CEO created hundreds of false expense reports with bogus business descriptions to disguise his personal use of the company's money to pay for meals, entertainment and gifts. The SEC also charged Polycom separately in an administrative order, finding that the company had inadequate internal controls and failed to report the CEO's perquisites to investors. Polycom agreed to settle the SEC's charges, but the case

The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency announced that they would permit Wells Fargo and its subsidiary national banks to use the "advanced approaches" capital framework beginning in the second quarter of 2015. Under the framework, firms must meet specific risk-measurement and risk-management criteria when calculating their risk-based capital requirements. See: FRB Press Release.

The Federal Financial Institutions Examinations Council ("FFIEC") issued two joint statements to alert financial institutions to specific risk mitigation techniques. The techniques comprise a response both to destructive malware and to cyber attacks that attempt to compromise credentials. See: FFIEC's Statement on Destructive Malware; FFIEC's Statement on Cyber Attacks Compromising Credentials.