The SEC's Office of Investor Education and Advocacy and the CFTC's Office of Consumer Outreach issued an Investor Alert regarding binary options and fraud. According to the SEC, while some binary options are listed on registered exchanges or traded on designated contract markets (subject to oversight by the SEC or CFTC), much of the binary options market operates through Internet-based trading platforms that are not necessarily complying with U.S. regulatory requirements and may be engaging in illegal activity. Numerous complaints of fraud have been associated with websites buying and selling

The SEC announced that it has changed the name of its Division of Risk, Strategy, and Financial Innovation to better reflect its core responsibilities and focus. As of June 6, 2013, it will be called the "Division of Economic and Risk Analysis." Chair Mary Jo White emphasized that the Division serves a central role in the SEC's ongoing commitment to rigorous economic analysis. Likewise, Craig Lewis, Chief Economist and the division's director explained that the new name represents the "twin goals" of the division, which is to provide economic analyses and risk analytics to the SEC. Click here

The SEC released a fact sheet on reforming money market funds at the Commission's open meeting. In particular, the SEC’s proposal includes two principal alternative reforms that could be adopted alone or in combination: Alternative One: Floating NAV - This proposed alternative would require that all institutional prime money market funds operate with a floating net asset value ("NAV"). This approach would preserve the stable value fund product for those retail investors who have found it to be convenient and beneficial. Alternative Two: Liquidity Fees and Redemption Gates - This proposed

The Capital Markets and Government Sponsored Enterprises Subcommittee held a hearing examining the role of proxy advisory firms in corporate governance. According to the attached Committee Memorandum, the hearing is intended to examine: the growing importance of proxy advisory firms in proxy solicitations and corporate governance, including the effect that proxy advisory firms have on corporate governance standards for public companies, the voting policies that proxy advisory firms have adopted, the market power of proxy advisory firms in an industry effectively controlled by two firms, and

Federal Reserve Governor Sarah Bloom Raskin gave a speech calling for regulators to finalize the implementation of the capital rules applicable to small banks in the United States. Governor Raskin remarked that, while model-based approaches would work for large, international banks, they would be inappropriate for the smaller, community-based banks that make up the majority of American banks. Governor Raskin stated that there are costs to complexity that should not be passed on to the community banks, which she argued played no part in the financial crisis and currently provide meaningful