Continuing the practice of issuing Risk Alerts summarizing examination findings, which has only increased under the leadership of the now departing Division of Examinations (EXAMS) Director Pete Driscoll, on 21 July 2021, EXAMS issued such an Alert on fixed income principal and cross trades by investment advisers, a topic that the SEC Staff has been scrutinizing for some time.
The SEC’s order found that Blotics violated the anti-touting provisions of the federal securities laws by failing to disclose the compensation it received from issuers of the digital asset securities it profiled.
The SEC today issued its first Order under its Whistleblower Rules in quite some time, citing a registered broker-dealer with violating Rule 21F-17 of the Securities Exchange Act, which precludes conduct that could impede anyone from communicating with the Commission about potential securities laws violations.
On May 6, 2021, SEC Chair Gary Gensler participated in his first Congressional hearing, before the House Committee on Financial Services, joined by Robert Cook, President and CEO of FINRA and Michael C. Bodson, the CEO of The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation. This was the third hearing for the House Financial Services Committee on issues related to the January 2021 market events associated with trading in GameStop; however, Committee members did not limit themselves to the topic at hand.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Examinations (Exams) recently issued a Risk Alert discussing observations from recent examinations on how investment advisers, registered investment companies, and hedge funds approach environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing.
SEC Acting Chair Allison Herren Lee’s comments highlighted the SEC’s various work streams and areas of focus, while also looking ahead to what still needs to be accomplished.