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Our experts frequently write blog posts about the findings of the research we are conducting.

Displaying 21-30 out of 140 results for "ERS".

FINRA Files Cease and Desist RE: John Carris Investments and Fibrocell Science

(Oct 2013)

Yesterday, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) announced a temporary cease and desist order against "John Carris Investments, LLC (JCI) and its CEO, George Carris, to immediately halt solicitations of its customers to purchase Fibrocell Science, Inc. stock without making proper disclosures."

According to FINRA's complaint, JCI manipulated the stock price of Fibrocell (FCSC) through unauthorized purchases and so-called 'matched trades'. In particular, between May and September...

SEC Proposes Rule for "Pay Ratio" Disclosure

(Sep 2013)

Last week, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)released a rule proposalthat would require "public companies to disclose the ratio of the compensation of its chief executive officer (CEO) to the median compensation of its employees." The proposed rule gives companies flexibility with respect to the methodology used to calculate the pay ratio. This flexibility allows for a variety of approaches that are appropriate for each company's size and structure.

Although the SEC does not specify...

SEC Approves Municipal Adviser Registration Requirement

(Sep 2013)

Late last week, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) voted to adopt rules requiring municipal advisors to register with the commission if the advisor "provides advice on the issuance of municipal securities or about certain 'investment strategies' or municipal derivatives." This permanent registration requirement was required by Dodd-Frank (Section 975) and replaces the temporary registration requirement previously implemented by the SEC.

The registration requirement is meant to...

FDIC Goes After Directors of Failed Banks

(Sep 2013)

In recent months, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has been filing a significant number of lawsuits against bank executives to recoup losses stemming from the onslaught of bank failures following the financial crisis. The annual number of bank failures reached a peak at 157 in 2010 and has declined steadily since.

These bank failures were a significant test of the FDIC system. The fund backing the FDIC guarantee has been depleted by nearly $90 billion over the past five years...

FINRA Study: Financial Scams Prevalent

(Sep 2013)

Financial fraud is estimated to cost Americans between $40 and $50 billion annually . Last fall, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) commissioned a study on the financial vulnerability of Americans to classic investor scams. The online study surveyed a sample of more than 2,000 Americans aged 40 and above, chosen to represent the approximate age, ethnicity, and census region distribution reflected by the 2010 census.¹

According to the report,the survey found that approximately...

CFTC: Concept Release on Risk Controls and System Safeguards for Automated Trading

(Sep 2013)

Yesterday, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) produced their concept release on "Risk Controls and System Safeguards for Automated Trading Environments" (PDF). The CFTC is hoping to evaluate the efficacy of currently implemented risk control mechanisms that may have been sufficient for "human judgment and speeds" but may no longer be sufficient in the present environment of automated and interconnected high-frequency trading.

After reviewing the present status of automated...

Illiquid ETFs and SEC Market Maker Incentives

(Sep 2013)

There is now nearly $1.5 trillion invested in exchange-traded products (ETPs) in some 1,400 exchange-traded funds and exchange-traded notes. However, not all of that huge sum is distributed evenly. Some funds, like SPY, have huge assets under management, while many others struggle to top $10 million. Often, issuers will close lightly-traded ETPs (leading to substantial turnover each year), but if they don't, the market price of an ETP can often deviate from the net asset value of its...

Five Broker-Dealers Ordered to Pay over $10 Million in Restitution for Non-Traded REIT Sales

(Sep 2013)

Back in May, Massachusetts securities regulators ordered five independent broker-dealers to pay over $6 million in fines and restitution for improperly selling non-traded REITs. It also settled separately with another broker-dealer, LPL Financial, for an additional $2.5 million. Just yesterday, Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin announced an additional settlement with the same five broker-dealers for an additional $10.75 million in additional restitution for improper sales of...

Regulators Soften on Credit Risk Retention Rule

(Aug 2013)

Yesterday financial regulators proposed a revised rule addressing the retention of credit risk for sponsors of securitizations -- see the proposed rule .¹The thought is that by removing the separation between the origination and securitization of loans, lenders will focus more on the quality of loans rather than the quantity, as they would have to keep some 'skin in the game' when structuring asset-backed securities.

The original March 2011 proposal required securitizers to retain at least...

Limit Up/Limit Down Rules and the NYSE

(Aug 2013)

Nearly a year after the "flash crash" of May 6, 2010, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed a "limit up-limit down" mechanism that would limit the trading prices for listed equity securities to within a range near recent prices -- effectively limiting the realizable volatility of the price movements.¹ The proposal called for price bands around the average price over the preceding five-minute period and would prevent execution of trades outside of these bands. The proposal was...

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