SEC Daniel Gallagher spoke about the SEC's revised statement on well-known seasoned issuer ("WKSI") waivers, which updated a policy on assessing the eligibility of issuers seeking to qualify as WKSIs under Securities Act Rule 405 ("Definitions of Terms"). Commissioner Gallagher stated that the touchstone of the analysis of the revised statement on WKSI waivers ("WKSI Statement") is the reliability of the issuer's current and future disclosure. In other words, if the misconduct that triggered the disqualification does not affect the issuer's current and future disclosure, then granting the WKSI

FINRA issued a regulatory notice regarding the revisions to the Investment Company and Variable Contracts Products Principal ("Series 26") examination program. After conducting a review of the Series 26 examination program, FINRA revised the content outline to reflect changes in the laws, rules and regulations covered by the examination in order to incorporate the functions and associated tasks that an Investment Company and Variable Contracts Products Principal performs currently. Specifically, FINRA divided the content outline into three major job functions and included specific tasks for

FINR A released the fifth podcast in its five-part series providing an overview of FINRA's 2014 examination priorities. The focus of the fifth podcast is FINRA's examination of priorities regarding market regulation. Specifically, it addresses particular areas of market regulation, including: Algorithmic Trading and Trading Systems: FINRA stated that it will continue to assess whether firms' testing and controls related to high-frequency trading ("HFT") and other algorithmic trading strategies are adequate in light of the Market Access Rule and firms' other supervisory obligations. FINRA

FINRA issued a regulatory notice requesting comments on a revised proposal that would require a hyperlink to BrokerCheck in online retail communications that are produced by a FINRA member firm. The revised proposal includes changes made in response to comments on a prior proposal to amend FINRA Rule 2267 ("Investor Education and Protection"). Specifically, the revised proposal would require a firm to include a "readily apparent" reference and hyperlink to BrokerCheck on each of the firm's Web sites that are available to retail investors. In addition, it would require a firm to include a

U.S. Senator Bob Corker (R-TN), the ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, introduced legislation on April 30, 2014, providing for the imposition of more aggressive sanctions against Russia, including measures directed against all Russian senior officials, the country's largest energy companies and Russian financial institutions. In a statement, Senator Corker took exception to what he described as the Obama Administration's reactive approach to the crisis in Ukraine, and expressed his desire to "inflict more direct consequences on Russia prior to Vladimir Putin taking