Effective November 4, 2013, firms are required to report over-the-counter transactions in equity securities to FINRA as soon as practicable, but no later than 10 seconds, following execution. With respect to trades that are reported manually, FINRA will take into consideration the complexity and manual nature of the execution and reporting of the trade when reviewing for firm compliance with the new reporting timeframe. The amendments also apply to trade cancellations, as well as stop stock and prior reference price trades. See : Regulatory Notice 13-19. See also : Amended rule text.

The IRS released draft Forms W-9, W-8BEN and W-8BEN-E. These forms will be used by individuals and entities to certify their status under FATCA and under the standard withholding tax rules. A revised W-9 will be filed by U.S. persons to provide its taxpayer identification number and to certify it is exempt from FATCA reporting. A W-8BEN is to be filed by non-U.S. individuals and W-8BEN-E by non-U.S. entities. The W-8BEN to be used by individuals is only one page long and is relatively straightforward, although no draft instructions were provided. By contrast, the draft W-8BEN-E is eight pages

Three top executives and a favored borrower were accused of masking non-performing assets at the Bank of the Commonwealth for their own personal benefit and to the detriment of the Bank. This long-running scheme contributed to the failure of the Bank in 2011, costing the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation ("FDIC") an estimated $268 million. See : Department of Justice - Press Release.

The SEC charged Rockville, Maryland-based proxy adviser Institutional Shareholder Services ("ISS") for failing to safeguard the confidential proxy voting information of clients participating in a number of significant proxy contests. The SEC's order finds that ISS willfully violated Section 204A of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. The order censures the firm and requires ISS to pay a $300,000 penalty and engage an independent compliance consultant to review its supervisory and compliance policies and procedures. Without admitting or denying the SEC's findings, ISS agreed to cease and

The House Financial Services Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee members questioned a witness from the Department of Justice regarding how the department decides which financial institutions are " too big to jail" and what information they rely upon to make such decisions. Lofchie Comment: One hopes the Department of Justice acts cautiously in bringing criminal charges against any financial institution, big or small. Merely bringing charges may be sufficient to drive many financial institutions out of business. The reputational damage alone may provoke a bank run. When a company is