SEC Publishes Regulatory Agenda for 2015

As required by Executive Order, the SEC has recently published an updated Agency Rule List, which identifies the most important significant regulatory actions that agencies expect to take in the coming year. Among other things, the SEC has included new proposed regulatory actions regarding (i) a proposed rule that would require a mutual fund to implement a “liquidity management program” and enhanced guidance relating to liquid assets in open-end funds; (ii) new requirements for stress testing by large asset managers and large investment companies; (iii) amendments to the forms used by open-end and closed-end registered investment companies to report fund operations and portfolio holdings information; and (iv) proposed rules relating to derivative use and disclosure by funds.  See full article here

SEC Announces Results of 2014 Enforcement Program

The SEC announced that new investigative approaches and the innovative use of data and analytical tools resulted in a record number of enforcement actions and penalties spanning the entire securities industry in the fiscal year ended September 30, 2014. According to the announcement, the SEC filed 755 enforcement actions covering a wide range of misconduct, and obtained orders totaling $4.16 billion in disgorgement and penalties, according to preliminary figures. The numbers represent significant increases over the SEC’s results for fiscal year 2013, which in turn represented an increase over fiscal year 2012 in terms of total disgorgement and penalties. The SEC’s announcement noted that these results reflect the SEC’s current enforcement priorities, including a number of “first-ever” cases, such as actions involving the market access rule, the “pay-to-play” rule for investment advisers, an emergency action to halt a municipal bond offering and whistleblower retaliation.  See full article here