The Department of Justice announced that it is bringing criminal charges for insider trading against SAC advisory companies responsible for a group of affiliated hedge funds. The alleged offenses were committed over the span of more than a decade by numerous employees involved in the securities of over 20 publicly traded companies. It is charged that the acts were made possible by institutional practices that enabled the use of material, non-public inside information resulting in hundreds of millions of dollars in illegal profits and avoided losses. The SEC has also announced charges against

In connection with the JOBS Act amendments to Rule 506 of Regulation D, Form D and Rule 144A, the SEC has proposed numerous amendments to Regulation D, Form D and Rule 156 of the Securities Act. The proposed amendments: require the filing of Form D in 506(c) offerings before engaging in general solicitation; mandate the inclusion of certain disclosures and legends in general solicitation materials and the submission of such materials to the SEC; disqualify an issuer from relying on Rule 506 for one year, for future offerings, if the issuer did not comply with Form D filing requirements in the

The SEC has adopted final amendments to Rule 506 ("Exemption for Limited Offers and Sales without Regard to Dollar Amount of Offering") of Regulation D, Form D and Rule 144A ("Private Resales of Securities to Institutions") under the Securities Act in order to implement Section 201(a) ("Modification of Exemption") of the JOBS Act and Section 926 ("Disqualifying Felons and Other 'Bad Actors' from Regulation D Offerings") of Dodd-Frank. The SEC is also publishing for comment a number of proposed amendments to Regulation D, Form D and Rule 156 ("Investment Company Sales Literature") under the

FINRA has filed changes to the content outline and selection specifications for the Supervisory Analyst (Series 16) Examination program with the SEC. Changes include: Modifications to the laws, rules, and regulations covered by the exam; and Incorporation of the functions and associated tasks currently performed by a supervisory analyst. See: FINRA Rule Filing Announcement; Text of the Proposed Rule Change.

The Alternative Investment Management Association ("AIMA") released a statement on the findings from a joint AIMA and Ernst & Young survey on the progress towards implementation of the AIFMD. The results indicate that uneven progress is being made on implementing the AIFMD across the European Union. Although a majority of the 27 EU member states have transposed the AIFMD into law or drafted a final legislation awaiting parliamentary approval, the survey showed only 12 Member states have completed full legislation, and at least five member states have made little or no progress. Additionally