The SEC issued no-action relief under Exchange Act Section 15(a) ("Registration and Regulation of Brokers and Dealers"), specifying that the SEC would not take action against an M&A Broker if the broker were to effect securities transactions in connection with the transfer of ownership of a privately held company without registering as a broker-dealer pursuant to Exchange Act Section 15(b) subject to a substantial number of conditions, including that the purchasing buyer or group of buyers (i) take at least 25% of the interest in the company and (ii) actively operate the company. The initial

The SEC Division of Corporation Finance issued no-action relief to Schlumberger Limited. The Division stated that it would not object if Schlumberger were to file a definitive proxy statement without filing a preliminary proxy statement for certain matters that are (i) required to be submitted for stockholder approval at an annual meeting under Curaçao law, and (ii) are not among the matters specifically enumerated in Exchange Act Rule 14a-6(a) ("Filing Requirements"). The SEC staff also said that other Curaçao-based companies could rely on the advice in the letter. See: SEC No-Action Letter

The SEC announced the filing of stop order proceedings against 20 purported mining companies that are believed to have included false information in their registration statements. The SEC found that each registration statement falsely stated that management consisted of a different individual who controlled and solely governed the company. The named individuals varied by company. See : List of SEC Stop Orders; Press Release.

In three separate letters, SIFMA and six other financial industry associations filed comments with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency ("OCC"), the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System ("FRB") and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation ("FDIC") (collectively, the "Federal Agencies") on the proposed rules regarding the liquidity coverage ratio ("LCR"). The letters contained comments on the LCR proposal in connection with international standards, securitization and municipal securities. In the first letter (linked below), SIFMA, the Structured Finance Industry Group (

The SEC announced the latest actions in its microcap fraud-fighting initiative, better known as "Operation Shell-Expel," suspending trading in 255 dormant shell companies "ripe for abuse" in the over-the-counter ("OTC") market. Operation Shell-Expel is a pump-and-dump scheme in which perpetrators tout a thinly traded microcap stock through false and misleading statements about the company to the marketplace. After purchasing the stock at a low price and pumping the price higher by creating the appearance of market activity, individuals dump the stock to make significant profits by selling it