SEC Issues Partial Stay of Conflict Minerals Rules
The Securities and Exchange Commission today issued an order staying the effective date for compliance with the portions of Exchange Act Rule 13p-1 and Form SD that would require statements by issuers that the Court of Appeals held would violate the First Amendment (see Nat’l Ass’n of Mfrs. v. SEC, No. 13-5252, D.C. Cir., Apr. 14, 2014). In its order, the SEC denied the motion filed by the National Association of Manufacturers, Chamber of Commerce, and Business Roundtable for a stay of the entire rule. The Commission stated that a stay of these portions of the rule avoids the risk…
Read MoreChief Economist and Division of Economic and Risk Analysis Director Craig Lewis to Leave SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that Chief Economist and Division of Economic and Risk Analysis (DERA) Director Craig M. Lewis will leave the agency today. He will return to his position as the Madison S. Wigginton Professor of Finance at Vanderbilt University’s Owen Graduate School of Management. Dr. Lewis has headed the division since May 2011 and led a broad range of activities, including providing economic analysis to support SEC rulemaking and developing sophisticated analytical tools to assist in risk assessment and enforcement. “Craig has demonstrated extraordinary leadership, judgment and vision during his tenure as chief economist,” said…
Read MoreSEC Charges NYSE, NYSE ARCA, and NYSE MKT for Repeated Failures to Operate in Accordance With Exchange Rules
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced an enforcement action against the New York Stock Exchange and two affiliated exchanges for their failure to comply with the responsibilities of self-regulatory organizations (SROs) to conduct their business operations in accordance with Commission-approved exchange rules and the federal securities laws. Also charged was the NYSE exchanges’ affiliated routing broker Archipelago Securities. The NYSE exchanges agreed to settle the SEC’s charges by retaining an independent consultant and together with Archipelago Securities paying a $4.5 million penalty. “The SEC regulates exchanges, in part, by reviewing rules proposed by the exchanges that govern exchange activities…
Read MoreSEC Charges Utah-Based Retirement Plan Administrator With Defrauding Investors
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced fraud charges and an asset freeze against a Utah-based retirement plan administrator who defrauded investors in self-directed individual retirement accounts (IRAs), causing them to lose millions of dollars of savings. The SEC alleges that American Pension Services Inc. (APS) and its founder, president and CEO Curtis L. DeYoung squandered more than $22 million of investor funds on high-risk investments. DeYoung hid the losses by issuing inflated account statements, allowing him to continue collecting fees and further victimizing his customers. “This misconduct jeopardized retirement security for thousands of APS customers,” said Karen L. Martinez,…
Read MoreSEC Charges Six Individuals With Insider Trading in Stock of E-Commerce Company Prior to Acquisition by eBay
The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged a former executive with insider trading in advance of eBay’s acquisition of the e-commerce company where he worked by tipping friends and relatives with confidential information about the pending deal so they could attain more than $300,000 in illegal profits. In a case that the SEC unraveled in part due to extensive cooperation by some of the tippees, the SEC also charged five traders and entered into a non-prosecution agreement with a trader who provided extraordinary cooperation in the investigation. It’s the agency’s first non-prosecution agreement with an individual. The SEC’s investigation is…
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