SEC Examinations

. . . that an SEC Enforcement action is more likely to result from a sweep examination than from a routine examination? That is because sweep exams are usually spurred when a particular business practice of concern has come to … Continued

Mary Jo White, chairman of the SEC, wants to add 250 more examiners to police investment advisers, but the agency needs up to 2,000 to boost its policing of the business significantly. Adding 250 investment-adviser examiners — a priority of Ms. … Continued

Securities regulators are going to try to extract admissions of wrongdoing from defendants in some of their settlements, a move that could ultimately force more cases to go to trial, Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Mary Jo White said Tuesday.

In recent testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services, Chairman Mary Jo White of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) discussed some of the recent activities of the SEC.  The testimony addressed several key areas … Continued

Mary Jo White, head of the Securities and Exchange Commission, told the House Financial Services Committee that the agency’s top priority is increasing examination of financial advisers. “Significant additional coverage is essential if investors are to be appropriately protected,” she … Continued

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that Carlo V. di Florio will leave the agency after leading its National Exam Program for more than three years. Mr. di Florio will depart later this month to lead a new division … Continued

Apparently, the SEC is now requesting a quarterly trade blotter rather than yearly trade records.

There appears to be a new section in the “standard” SEC examination request letter. It asks for due diligence procedures used by the advisory firm’s portfolio managers, investment committee or analysts used to select stocks. Then the letter requests specific … Continued

One of the more interesting aspects of the recent National Exam Program release – Examination Priorities for 2013 – is that the priorities have been set by the SEC staff and not by the SEC itself.  The exam priorities and … Continued

The National Examination program (NEP) of the Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) published its examination priorities to communicate with investors and registrants about areas that are perceived by the staff to have heightened risk, and to support the … Continued

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that Enforcement Director Robert Khuzami will leave the agency after nearly four years of leadership. During Mr. Khuzami’s tenure, the Enforcement Division filed scores of significant actions connected to the financial crisis and … Continued

Robert Khuzami, director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement, is reportedly leaving. His departure would mark the fourth major SEC staff exit in the last few weeks, following the heads of the Divisions of Corporation Finance and Trading and Markets and … Continued

The SEC has implemented a risk-focused National Examination Program (“NAP”). Through this program, the SEC will gather and track information on private equity advisers’: – internal systems, – material changes in business activities such as lines of business or investment strategies, – changes … Continued

. . . that the SEC annually examines only about 8% of the nearly 12,000 advisers registered with the agency.

SEC Charges Father-and-Son Hedge Fund Managers Who Agree to Pay $4.8 Million to Settle Fraud Case The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged a Boston-based father-son duo of hedge fund managers and their firms with securities fraud for misleading investors … Continued

The Securities and Exchange Commission recently charged twin brothers from the U.K. with defrauding approximately 75,000 investors through an Internet-based pump-and-dump scheme in which they touted a fake “stock picking robot” that purportedly identified penny stocks set to double in … Continued

The SEC charged an investment advisor with fraud for lying to clients about how brokerage commission rebates, or “soft dollars,” were being used and producing phony documents to cover up the fraud during an SEC examination. The SEC alleges that … Continued