Statement Regarding Progress on the Review of the U.S. Treasury Market Structure since the July 2015 Joint Staff Report
The U.S. Department of the Treasury, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (Joint Member Agencies) today issued this statement to highlight significant actions taken since the issuance last July of their Joint Staff Report on the U.S. Treasury market, including the recently signed memorandum of understanding to share information on U.S. Treasury cash and related derivative markets among the agencies and their plans to host a second conference on October 24 to continue progress on these efforts.…
Read MoreSEC Announces Agenda for August 2 Meeting of the Equity Market Structure Advisory Committee
The Securities and Exchange Commission will hold a meeting of the Equity Market Structure Advisory Committee on August 2, beginning at 9:30 a.m. EDT. The Commission established the advisory committee to provide a formal mechanism through which the Commission can receive advice and recommendations on equity market structure issues. The meeting will focus on recommendations related to market quality and customer issues, as well as updates from the subcommittees. The recommendations are available on the SEC’s website. The meeting will be held at the SEC’s headquarters at 100 F Street, N.E., Washington, D.C., and is open to the public. It…
Read MoreSEC Obtains Asset Freeze in Case of Investor Funds Stolen for Shopping Sprees
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced an asset freeze it has obtained against three men who aren’t registered to sell investments and allegedly went on lavish shopping sprees with more than $5 million raised from investors to purportedly develop a resort. In an emergency action filed in federal court in Atlanta, the SEC alleges that Matthew E. White, Rodney A. Zehner, and Daniel J. Merandi fraudulently issued $1 billion in unsecured corporate bonds out of a shell company they own and claimed the money would be used to fund the resort project. But they never came close to raising…
Read MoreSEC: State Street Misled Custody Clients About Prices for Foreign Currency Exchange Trades
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that State Street Bank and Trust Company has agreed to pay $382.4 million in a global settlement for misleading mutual funds and other custody clients by applying hidden markups to foreign currency exchange trades. As part of its custody bank line of business, State Street safeguards clients’ financial assets and offers such services as indirect foreign currency exchange trading (Indirect FX) for clients to buy and sell foreign currencies as needed to settle their transactions involving foreign securities. An SEC investigation found that State Street realized substantial revenues by misleading custody clients about…
Read MoreLAN Airlines Settles FCPA Charges
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that South American-based LAN Airlines has agreed to pay more than $22 million to settle parallel civil and criminal cases related to improper payments it authorized during a dispute between the airline and its union employees in Argentina. An SEC investigation found that when LAN encountered problems negotiating labor agreements with the unions, it was contacted by a consultant from Argentina who offered to negotiate on the company’s behalf. The consultant made clear that he would expect compensation for such negotiations, and that payments would be made to third parties who had influence…
Read More