Statement on Trade Reporting in the U.S. Treasury Market
The U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that they are working together to explore efficient and effective means of collecting U.S. Treasury cash market transaction information. As part of those efforts, the agencies are requesting that the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) consider a proposal to require its member brokers and dealers to report Treasury cash market transactions to a centralized repository. Treasury’s recent request for information (RFI) on the evolution of the U.S. Treasury market structure sought views on the most effective means of obtaining more comprehensive official sector access to U.S. Treasury cash market…
Read MoreAgencies Invite Comment on Proposed Rule to Prohibit Incentive-Based Pay that Encourages Inappropriate Risk-Taking in Financial Institutions
Six federal agencies are inviting public comment on a proposed rule to prohibit incentive-based compensation arrangements that encourage inappropriate risks at covered financial institutions. The deadline for comments on the proposed rule, which was submitted for publication in the Federal Register, is July 22, 2016. Section 956 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act requires the agencies to jointly prescribe such regulations or guidelines. There is evidence that flawed incentive-based compensation packages in the financial industry were one of the contributing factors in the financial crisis that began in 2007. The proposed rules would apply to covered financial…
Read MoreWhistleblower Earns $3.5 Million Award for Bolstering Ongoing Investigation
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced a whistleblower award of more than $3.5 million to a company employee whose tip bolstered an ongoing investigation with additional evidence of wrongdoing that strengthened the SEC’s case. The SEC noted that whistleblowers should be encouraged to come forward and report allegations of potential securities laws violations even if they think the SEC may already be looking into it. “Whistleblowers can receive an award not only when their tip initiates an investigation, but also when they provide new information or documentation that advances an existing inquiry,” said Andrew Ceresney, Director of the SEC’s…
Read MoreSEC Charges Two Attorneys With Defrauding Escrow Clients
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced fraud charges against two attorneys accused of making undisclosed risky investments and in some instances outright stealing money they obtained in escrow accounts from small business owners seeking commercial loans. The SEC alleges that Jay Mac Rust and Christopher K. Brenner collected $13.8 million acting as escrow agents between their clients and a purported loan company called Atlantic Rim Funding. Rust and Brenner assured clients that their deposits of 10 percent of the desired loan amount would be held safe and only used to purchase liquid, government-backed securities that Atlantic would then leverage…
Read MoreSEC Charges Father, Son, Others in Tribal Bonds Scheme
The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged a father and son and five associates with defrauding investors in sham Native American tribal bonds in order to steal millions of dollars in proceeds for their own extravagant expenses and criminal defense costs. The SEC alleges that Jason Galanis, whose checkered past dates from an accounting fraud case during his days as a major Penthouse shareholder to stock fraud charges last year, conducted the scheme in which the “primary objective is to get us a source of discretionary liquidity,” he wrote in an e-mail to other participants. Galanis and his father John…
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