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Post Frequency: 38.1/day

Last Entry: March 31, 2011 at 16:18:26

New York AG Wants BofA to Disclose Attorneys' Advice

Posted on September 08, 2009
The New York AG's office is not buying Bank of America's defense of reliance on counsel without disclosure of the attorneys' advice. In a letter posted on its website today to BofA's outside counsel, the office stated: We are at...

Administration Announces Steps to Boost Participation in Retirement Savings Plans

Posted on September 06, 2009
The Administration announced new (modest) steps to complement the president?s legislative proposals to boost participation in IRAs and match retirement savings. The Department of the Treasury will: Expand opportunities for automatic enrollment in 401(k) and other retirement savings plans, ?...

Geithner at the G-20 Meeting

Posted on September 06, 2009
Statement by Secretary Geithner at the G-20 Meeting of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (Sept. 5, 2009): Our strategy is to put in place stronger constraints on risk taking across the financial system, to bring comprehensive oversight to key...

Bondi on Arbitration of Mortgage-Backed Securities Suitability Claims

Posted on September 06, 2009
Securities Arbitrations Involving Mortgage-Backed Securities and Collateralized Mortgage Obligations: Suitable for Unsuitability Claims, by Bradley J Bondi, Counsel to SEC Commissioner; Adjunct Professor of Law, was recently posted on SSRN. Here is an abbreviated version of the abstract: Over the...

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Atkins & Bondi on SEC's Enforcement Program

Posted on September 06, 2009
Evaluating the Mission: A Critical Review of the History and Evolution of the SEC Enforcement Program, by Paul S. Atkins, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and Bradley J Bondi, Counsel to SEC Commissioner; Adjunct Professor of Law, was recently posted...

Verret on the Bailout

Posted on September 06, 2009
Treasury Inc.: How the Bailout Reshapes Corporate Theory and Practice, by J.W. Verret, George Mason University - School of Law, was recently posted on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Corporate law theory and practice considers shareholder relations with companies and...

Booth on the Causes of the 2008 Credit Crisis

Posted on September 06, 2009
Things Happen, by Richard A. Booth, Villanova University School of Law, was recently posted on SSRN. Here is the abstract: In this essay, I consider various theories about the cause the 2008 credit crisis and by implication what should be...

Bradley on Global Regulation of Credit Ratings

Posted on September 06, 2009
Rhetoric and the Regulation of the Global Financial Markets in a Time of Crisis: The Regulation of Credit Ratings, by Caroline M. Bradley, University of Miami - School of Law, was recently posted on SSRN. Here is the abstract: The...

Selling Life Settlements of Old and Sick is Wall St.'s "Next Big Thing"

Posted on September 06, 2009
The New York Times has a disturbing front-page article, New Exotic Investments Emerging on Wall St. (by Jenny Anderson), recounting the latest "exotic investment" Wall St. is planning -- securitization of "life settlements." Life settlements involve the sale of life...

SEC's Inspector General Releases Entire Report on its Madoff Investigation

Posted on September 05, 2009
The SEC's Office of inspector General posted on its website the entire 477-page report of its investigation into why the SEC never uncovered the Madoff ponzi scheme despite numerous red flags and warnings over the years. From the introuction: The...

Credit Rating Agencies Can Be Liable for Ratings Issued in Private Placement, Court Holds

Posted on September 04, 2009
Judge Scheindlin's opinion in Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank v. Morgan Stanley & Co. Download AbuDhabiCommercialBank(S.D.N.Y. Sept. 2, 2009) is receiving a great deal of press, and deservedly so. Two institutional investors brought a class action to recover losses stemming from...

SEC & Hain Celestial Group Settle Backdating Charges

Posted on September 03, 2009
The SEC settles another backdating case, this one involving The Hain Celestial Group, Inc. ("Hain"), a Melville, New York natural foods company. The SEC's complaint, filed in federal court in Brooklyn, New York, alleges that from at least 1998 to...

Treasury Releases Principles for Reforming Regulatory Capital Framework for Banks

Posted on September 03, 2009
The Treasury Department posted on its website a policy statement, "Principles for Reforming the U.S. and International Regulatory Capital Framework for Banking Firms." According to the statement, The global regulatory framework failed to prevent the build-up of risk in the...

SEC Charges 6 Defendants with Unregistered Distribution of 21 Billion Shares

Posted on September 03, 2009
On September 1, 2009, the SEC filed a civil complaint against three individuals and three entities alleging that between February 2004 and June 2007, they engaged in an unregistered distribution and sale of over 21 billion shares of Universal Express...

Hill on Credit Rating Agencies

Posted on September 02, 2009
Why Did Anyone Listen to the Rating Agencies After Enron?, by Claire A. Hill, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities - School of Law, was recently posted on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Enron was rated investment grade by Moody?s, Standard...

Bamberger on Technologies of Compliance

Posted on September 02, 2009
Technologies of Compliance: Risk and Regulation in a Digital Age, by Kenneth A. Bamberger, University of California, Berkeley - School of Law, was recently posted on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Legal scholarship has been silent about a phenomenon with...

Wachter on the Ongoing Financial Upheaval

Posted on September 02, 2009
The Ongoing Financial Upheaval: Understanding the Sources and Way Out, by Susan M. Wachter, University of Pennsylvania - Finance Department, was recently posted on SSRN. Here is the abstract: The present period of financial instability is also likely to become...

FINRA Increases Margin Requirements for Leveraged ETFs

Posted on September 02, 2009
Effective December 1, 2009, FINRA is implementing increased customer margin requirements for leveraged ETFs and uncovered options overlying leveraged ETFs, in accordance with NASD Rule 2520 and incorporated NYSE Rule 431. ETFs are typically registered unit investment trusts (UITs) or...

Verifone Holdings Settles Accounting Falsification Charges

Posted on September 02, 2009
The SEC settled charges that Silicon Valley technology company VeriFone Holdings, Inc. and a former finance department employee falsified the company?s accounting records which boosted gross margins and income reported to shareholders. The SEC alleged that in three consecutive quarters...

SEC Charges Former President and Former Company Attorney of Golden Apple with Fraud

Posted on September 02, 2009
The SEC filed a complaint yesterday in the Southern District of New York charging Golden Apple Oil and Gas, Inc. ("Golden Apple"), its former President Jay Budd, former company attorney John Briner, and Ethos Investments, Inc., with securities law violations...

SEC Settles Insider Trading Action Involving Covansys Acquisition

Posted on September 02, 2009
On August 31, 2009, the SEC filed a settled insider trading action against Sarath B. Gangavarapu, a resident of Chattanooga, Tennessee. The Commission's complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, alleges that Gangavarapu violated...

SEC & CFTC Meet Today and Tomorrow on Harmonizing Regulation

Posted on September 02, 2009
The SEC and CFTC are holding two joint meetings on harmonization of their regulatory systems today and tomorrow. Here is the list of participants and agenda.

SEC Charges Investment Adviser with Ponzi Scheme Directed at California Church Community

Posted on September 02, 2009
The SEC charged David A. Souza and his company, D.A. Souza Investments, LLC for conducting a fraudulent investment scheme that targeted a Redding, California church community. In a nine-month period during 2007 and 2008, according to the SEC's complaint, Souza...

FINRA Bars Two Brokers in Separate Ponzi Schemes

Posted on September 02, 2009
FINRA announced that in separate enforcement actions, it has permanently barred two brokers for running multi-million-dollar Ponzi schemes that victimized a wide range of investors ? including elderly individuals, mentally and physically impaired individuals, church members and even family friends...

Statements from SEC-CFTC Meeting on Regulation Harmonization

Posted on September 02, 2009
Here are the Opening Remarks before the SEC-CFTC Joint Meetings on Regulation Harmonization by SEC Chairman Mary L. Schapiro, held on September 2, 2009. Stephen Luparello, FINRA Vice Chairman, also made a Statement Before the SEC/CFTC Joint Meeting on Harmonization...

FINRA Settles ARS Charges with Three More Firms

Posted on September 02, 2009
FINRA announced today that it has entered into final settlements with three additional firms to settle charges relating to the sale of auction rate securities (ARS) that became illiquid when auctions froze in February 2008. The settlements announced today are...

SEC Releases Inspector General's Summary of Agency's Failures to Detect Madoff Fraud

Posted on September 02, 2009
The SEC released today the REPORT OF INVESTIGATION, UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL, Case No. OIG-509, Investigation of Failure of the SEC To Uncover Bernard Madoff's Ponzi Scheme. (This is the executive summary...

SEC's Inspector General Criticizes SEC's Oversight of Rating Agencies

Posted on September 01, 2009
The SEC's Office of Inspector General released a report on The SEC's Role Regarding and Oversight of Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organizations (NRSROs) on August 27. The OIG concludes that despite recognition of the importance of NRSROs post-Enron the SEC...

SEC Chair Warns CEOS of Broker Dealer Firms of Supervisory Responsibilities

Posted on September 01, 2009
SEC Chair Mary Schapiro released an open letter to the CEOs of broker-dealer firms warning that compensation arrangements could provide improper incentives for registered representatives to engage in abusive sales conduct and reminding them of the firms' supervisory responsibilities...

More Questions on the SEC-BofA Settlement

Posted on August 28, 2009
Zachary Goldfarb of the Washington Post consistently provides insightful coverage into the SEC. Check out his article today on the SEC's dilemma in persuading Judge Rakoff to accept the Bank of America settlement over the Merrill bonuses, in the face...

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