The United States Government Accountability Office ("GAO") released a report regarding the financial statements of the SEC from fiscal year 2013. In the report, the GAO found several deficiencies in the internal controls of the SEC over financial reporting. While the GAO did not consider the deficiencies to be material weaknesses either individually or collectively, the GAO concluded that the deficiencies warrant the SEC management's attention. The deficiencies relate to: procedures for transferring disgorgement and penalty-related funds to the United States Department of the Treasury; the

Gibraltar officially signed an Intergovernmental Agreement ("IGA") implementing FATCA. It is a Model 1A style reciprocal agreement requiring Reporting Financial Institutions in Gibraltar to report information with respect to U.S. Reportable Accounts and other accounts to tax authorities in Gibraltar for automatic transmittal to the U.S. IRS. The U.S. Department of Treasury also announced that Armenia agreed "in substance" to a Model 2-type IGA, whereby reporting financial institutions in Armenia will be required to report certain account information with respect to U.S. reportable accounts and

The North American Securities Administrators Association ("NASAA") announced a coordinated multistate review program intended to ease regulatory compliance costs on small businesses attempting to raise capital under Regulation A ("Conditional Small Issues Exemption"). The new program allows Regulation A offerings to be filed in one place and distributed electronically to all states. Each filer will interact with a lead examiner to address any deficiencies, and states will have ten business days to conduct a review. If there are no deficiencies in the relevant application, no comments will be

The IRS on Friday, May 9, 2014, issued new proposed regulations providing a framework whereby taxpayers may more easily determine which assets qualify for favorable Real Estate Investment Trust ("REIT") status, including whether, and under what circumstances, certain energy-generating assets are qualifying assets. In order for an entity to qualify for favorable tax treatment as a REIT, at least 75 percent of its assets must be "real estate assets" and substantially all of its income must consist of rents from real property, interest, dividends, and other passive income. Under existing rules

The MSRB published guidance regarding its new consolidated registration rule, MSRB Rule A-12, and new Form A-12. The guidance states that, for existing registrations, the MSRB will pre-populate information from their Forms RTRS and G-40 onto new Form A-12. Registered municipal advisors and dealers can assess the new Form A-12 via their Gateway account on the MSRB website. The MSRB prepared a new registration manual that contains screen shots of Form A-12 and guides municipal advisors and dealers through the registration process. Additionally, the guidance provides FAQs regarding the new