SEC Staff Supplements Quarterly Private Funds Statistics
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission staff today published a suite of new data and analyses of private fund statistics and trends. The Private Funds Statistics, released quarterly since October 2015 by the Division of Investment Management’s Risk and Examinations Office, offers investors and other market participants valuable insights by aggregating data reported by private fund advisers on Form ADV and Form PF. New analyses include information about the use of financial and economic leverage by hedge funds, and characteristics of private liquidity funds. “We believe publishing these statistics provides the public with more transparency into and understanding of the…
Read MoreSEC, FINRA Announce National Compliance Outreach Program for Broker-Dealers
Cybersecurity, investing by seniors, and other regulatory topics of interest will be discussed when the Securities and Exchange Commission and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) hold their National Compliance Outreach Program for Broker-Dealers on July 27. Registration opened today for the program, which is designed to provide an open forum for regulators and industry professionals, including compliance, audit, and other senior personnel of broker-dealer firms and branch offices, to discuss current compliance practices and promote an effective compliance structure for the protection of investors. The SEC’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) and FINRA sponsor the program in coordination…
Read MoreWhistleblower Award of More Than Half-Million Dollars for Company Insider
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that a company insider has earned a whistleblower award of more than $500,000 for reporting information that prompted an SEC investigation into well-hidden misconduct that resulted in an SEC enforcement action. “This company employee saw something wrong and did the right thing by reporting what turned out to be hard-to-detect violations of the securities laws,” said Jane Norberg, Chief of the SEC’s Office of the Whistleblower. “Company insiders are in a unique position to provide specific information that allows us to better protect investors and the marketplace. We encourage insiders with information to…
Read MoreSEC and NYU to Host Forum on Reviving IPO Market to Help Drive Economy, Create Jobs
Going public has helped many companies grow and create jobs, so why has the number of initial public offerings (IPOs) decreased in recent years? What are the consequences of this trend on investors? The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and New York University’s Salomon Center will tackle those questions next week in New York City. The Commission’s Division of Economic and Risk Analysis (DERA) is partnering with NYU’s Salomon Center for the Study of Financial Institutions to bring together regulators, practitioners, and academics for a half-day symposium on May 10 at NYU. Panelists will take a look at data and…
Read MoreSemiconductor Company and Former CFO Settle Accounting Fraud Charges
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that a South Korea-based semiconductor manufacturer and its former CFO have agreed to settle charges related to an accounting scheme to artificially boost revenue and manipulate the financial results reported to investors. The SEC’s order finds that MagnaChip Semiconductor Corp. overstated revenues for nearly two years in response to immense pressure placed on employees each quarter to meet revenue and gross margin targets that had been communicated to the public. Then-CFO Margaret Sakai directed or approved several fraudulent accounting practices to make it falsely appear the company had met those targets. For example,…
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