The Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) approved, on October 26, 2016, amendments to its Securities Act of 1933 (the “Securities Act”) Rule 147 and the creation of Rule 147A, amendments to its Rule 504, and the repeal of the limited use Rule 505. See press release, here. The final rules apparently largely follow the… Read more »
Monthly Archives: October 2016
SEC Issues Risk Warning on Whistleblowing
The Securities and Exchange Commission’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations issued a Risk Alert on October 24, 2016, regarding the staff’s examination of broker-dealers for compliance with the Dodd-Frank whistleblower provisions. The warning notes that the staff will review compliance manuals, codes of ethics, employment agreements and severance agreements, among others, to see whether… Read more »
SEC Proposes Reducing Settlement by One Day to T+2
The Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) has proposed to amend its Rule 15c6-1(a) to require broker-dealers to settle most non-exempt securities in T+2 instead of T+3, although shorter settlement is possible. See proposal, here. Comments are due by December 5, 2016. There seems to be little opposition to the basic shortening, which comes some… Read more »
FINRA to Require TRACE Reports on Treasury Transactions
The Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) has approved the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s (“FINRA”) plan to require, as of July 10, 2017, the reporting by FINRA member firms of transactions in U.S. Treasuries to the Trade Reporting and Compliance Engine (“TRACE”). See FINRA Regulatory Notice 16-39, October 2016, here. The rules will apply to… Read more »
NY Department of Financial Services Proposes New Cybersecurity Rules
In September of 2016, the NY Department of Financial Services (the “DFS”) proposed rules to require anyone operating under the NY banking law, insurance law or financial services law (a “Covered Entity”) to adopt a cybersecurity program and a cybersecurity policy, to appoint a chief information officer (a “CIO”), to do penetration and vulnerability testing,… Read more »
Court Dismisses Citizen Suit Against Oneida for Solar Farm Agreement
Given the state and federal incentives for solar energy, and the lowered cost of solar panels, companies are seeking to lease land in rural New York to build solar farms. The Oneida Daily Dispatch reported in April 2016 that a Madison County Judge had dismissed an Article 78 lawsuit against the city of Oneida. See here. The suit… Read more »
SEC Settles First “Stand-Alone” Whistleblower Case
The Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) showed its teeth when it imposed its first “stand-alone” fine under the “Whistleblower Program” at the end of September, 2016. The Program was authorized by the Dodd-Frank Act. The fine against International Game Technology was for firing an employee who reported to senior management and the SEC that… Read more »
BLM Proposal to Make Federal Lands Accessible to Solar and Wind Energy
The rule proposed by the Bureau of Land Management, see here, under the Obama administration’s push for clean energy, is reportedly to be adopted in October 2016. The rule establishes a competitive bidding process that would be in theory more streamlined than the current permitting process, offsets equal to up to 20% of the bid and… Read more »
FINRA Adopts New Capital Acquisition Rules
In August, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) has approved new Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) rules allowing a person registering as a “Capital Acquisition Broker” (“CAB”) to meet lesser obligations than those that FINRA would apply to full broker-dealers. See SEC Release 34-78617, here. A CAB is defined to include a person: (i) advising an issuer… Read more »
NY Not-for-Profit Corporation Act to Be Amended Again
A further amendment to the Non-Profit Revitalization Act of 2013 has been adopted by the NY State legislature and the legislation is expected to be signed by the governor. See the Lawyers Alliance for New York memo of June 22, 2016. Among other things, “independent director” will now be defined on a sliding scale: a director cannot be… Read more »