FINRA released a podcast summarizing the latest notices, compliance resources and news from January 2015. FINRA reminded members that final renewal statements for broker-dealers and investment advisers are available on FINRA's Web CRD and IARD, and that more information is outlined in FINRA Regulatory Notice 15-01. FINRA also reminded members of new amendments regarding customer account statements, direct participation programs and real estate trust securities in FINRA Regulatory Notice 15-02. Additionally, FINRA noted that, starting on February 14, 2015, the Section 31 fee will be reduced to

The Department of Justice ("DOJ") and 19 states along with the District of Columbia announced a settlement agreement with Standard Poor's Financial Services LLC ("S&P") to resolve allegations of a scheme to defraud investors. The scheme involved residential mortgage-backed securities ("RMBS") and collateralized debt obligations ("CDOs"). According to the DOJ press release, S&P issued inflated ratings, which the firm falsely misrepresented as objective, that downplayed RMBS' and CDOs' true credit risks. Additionally, the DOJ found that the company's leadership ignored its senior analysts, who

The SEC and FINRA issued observations, suggestions and recommendations in separate publications to assist broker-dealers, investors and financial firms in developing best practices for handling cybersecurity risk. The SEC Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations issued a Risk Alert that contains preliminary observations based on examinations of the information technology and cybersecurity practices of over 100 broker-dealers and investment advisers. Additionally, the SEC Office of Investor Education issued an Investor Bulletin that offers suggestions to investors for minimizing

The Clearing House, SIFMA, the American Bankers Association and the Financial Services Roundtable (collectively, the "Associations") provided comments in response to a proposal by the Financial Stability Board ("FSB") to impose a total loss-absorbing capacity ("TLAC") requirement on global systemically important banking groups ("G-SIBs"). In the letter, the Associations expressed their support for a TLAC requirement for G-SIBs, stating that it is a "critical step" toward ending "Too Big to Fail." However, the Associations indicated that a number of aspects of the proposal require modification

President Barack Obama unveiled his 2016 budget in a proposal titled Budget of the U.S. Government, Fiscal Year 2016. If the proposed budget is approved, then the SEC will receive $1.7 billion, a 15-percent increase from FY 2015, and the CFTC will receive $322 million, a 29-percent increase from FY 2015.