The SEC announced charges against Wing F. Chau and his New Jersey-based advisory firm, Harding Advisory LLC, for misleading investors in a collateralized debt obligation ("CDO") and breaching their fiduciary duties. The SEC alleges that Mr. Chau and Harding Advisory compromised their independent judgment as collateral manager to a CDO named Octans I CDO Ltd. in order to accommodate trades requested by a third-party hedge fund firm whose interests were not necessarily aligned with the debt investors'. The Order further alleges that while assembling the collateral for Octans I, Chau and Harding

The SEC approved an exemptive order providing a temporary exemption to broker-dealers from the requirements of recently adopted financial responsibility rules until March 3, 2014. On July 30, 2013, the SEC voted to adopt amendments to the following Exchange Act regulations: Rule 15c3-1 ("Net Capital Requirements for Brokers or Dealers"), Rule 15c3-3 ("Customer Protection - Reserves and Custody of Securities"), Rule 17a-3 ("Records to Be Made by Certain Exchange Members, Brokers and Dealers"), Rule 17a-4 ("Records to Be Preserved by Certain Exchange Members, Brokers and Dealers") and Rule 17a

The SEC announced charges and asset freezes against the operators and promoters of a worldwide pyramid scheme that falsely promises exponential, risk-free returns to investors in a venture that purportedly sells Internet-based children's educational courses. The SEC alleges that five entities based in Hong Kong, Canada and the British Virgin Islands, which collectively operate under business names "CKB" and "CKB168," are at the center of the scheme. According to the SEC's complaint, which was unsealed late yesterday in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, the scheme's

The SEC is soliciting comments on an immediately effective rule change amending FINRA Rule 7730 ("Trade Reporting and Compliance Engine"). The rule change would: provide for Trade Reporting and Compliance Engine ("TRACE") data fees for real-time and historic data sets of transactions in TRACE-Eligible Securities that are effected pursuant to Securities Act Rule 144A ("Private Resales of Securities to Institutions"); clarify Level II Full Service Web Browser fee rates in light of the availability of additional data sets; and make other technical amendments. See: SEC Notice. See also: Text of

According to The Cost of Compliance - a new global report produced by MFA, KPMG International, and the Alternative Investment Management Association ("AIMA") - hedge fund managers are making significant investments in their firms' infrastructures to comply with new regulatory requirements, with smaller firms spending relatively more than their larger counterparts. The survey was conducted between May and August of this year and includes the views of 200 hedge fund managers representing more than $910 billion in assets under management ("AUM"). It also included in-depth interviews with managers