The SEC granted an exemption to Lloyds Banking Group plc ("LBG"), a public limited company organized under the laws of the United Kingdom and registered in Scotland, from Exchange Act Regulation M Rule 102 ("Activities by Issuers and Selling Security Holders during a Distribution") in connection with a proposed Exchange Offer. On September 16, 2013, the SEC granted LBG an exemption from Rule 102 ("Original Relief") to permit certain LBG affiliates to conduct specified transactions in LBG Ordinary Shares and LBG American Depository Shares ("LBG ADSs"). LBG's recent request for exemptive relief

The SEC published its FY 2015 Budget Justification to Congress, which outlines the SEC's request of $1.7 billion for its FY 2015 budget and includes the FY 2013 annual performance report. The SEC stated that the budget will allow the agency to hire an additional 639 positions to assist in (i) remedying inadequate examination coverage for investment advisers and other key aspects of its jurisdiction; (ii) strengthening its core investigative, litigation and analytical enforcement functions; and (iii) continuing the agency's investments in the technologies needed to keep pace with today's high

In response to an escalating crisis, on March 6, 2014, President Obama issued Executive Order 13660 (linked below), blocking the property of certain persons contributing to the unstable situation in Ukraine. The Order allows the U.S. to impose economic sanctions against persons (individuals and entities) who are determined to be responsible for or complicit in activities that undermine the democratic process in Ukraine or threaten the peace, security, stability, sovereignty or territorial integrity of the country, including those who have provided material or financial assistance to such

The IRS ruled that income received by a publicly traded limited partnership from supplying water used in a fracturing process to produce natural gas, from hydrocarbon remediation and from disposing of flowback, produced water, drilling mud and other production wastes which result from the fracturing processes, is "qualifying income" within the meaning of Section 7704 of the Internal Revenue Code. As a result, such limited partnership is not subject to taxation as a corporation for federal income tax purposes. Under the Code, a partnership is taxed as a corporation if interests in that

FINRA Investor Education Foundation issued a new study titled "The Financial Capability of Young Adults - A Generational View," which reveals that millennials display low levels of financial literacy, engage in problematic financial behaviors and are worried about their debt. According to the results of the study, low levels of financial literacy hamper most millennials, with only 18 percent of young millennials (those who are 18 to 26) able to answer four to five questions correctly in a five-question financial literacy quiz. Among other results, the study details the following: Almost half