Securities and Exchange Commission Head Christopher Cox has introduced IDEA, an interactive system that will let investors more easily access key financial data about mutual funds and public companies. IDEA, which stands for Interactive Data Electronic Applications, Is the successor to the SEC’s EDGAR database and will eventually replace the…
The Securities and Exchange Commission says it has reached a preliminary settlement agreement with Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith to liquidate about $8.5 billion in auction-rate securities that are still held by the firm’s institutional and retail investors. Small businesses, individual investors, and charities have until January 15, 2010…
Scottrade Inc. agreed to pay a $950,000 civil penalty to settle Securities and Exchange Commission charges that it made fraudulent misrepresentations to clients related to the execution of Nasdaq pre-open orders. The brokerage firm is not admitting to or denying wrongdoing by settling the charges. Scottrade is, however, agreeing to…
At a Security Traders Association conference in Washington DC earlier this month, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Trading and Markets Director Erik Sirri told broker-dealers to “look for guidance” when using direct access systems when making trades. The announcement that direct access systems guidance was pending comes after…
The Securities and Exchange Commission is conducting three dozen open investigations into misconduct in the subprime mortgage industry. The probe is taking a look at possible misconduct involving: • The origination process • Insider trading • Securitization and sales of mortgage-backed securities According to SEC Division of Enforcement Associate Director…
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) have announced a new group initiative to protect senior investors from becoming the victims of investment scams. SEC, NASAA, and FINRA will work with investment advisers and broker-dealer companies to…
What was the role of the Securities and Exchange Commission in the collapse of the subprime mortgage bubble? Although mortgage brokers, investment banks, and ratings agencies are frequently held responsible for the demise, little is said about the roles of the Financial Industry Regulatory Industry (FINRA) and the SEC-both watchdog…
Heartland Advisors Inc. and several of the investment adviser’s employees have agreed to pay $3.9 Million to settle Securities and Exchange Commission charges that they allegedly violated the Federal Securities Act. The SEC case stems from incidents that allegedly took place from March through October 2000, when Heartland “negligently mispriced…
The director of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Investment Management Division is calling for mutual funds to rename their 75 basis point “distribution fee” and call it a “sales charge”-regardless of whether the sales charge is deducted right away or over a period of time. At the Investment Company Institute’s…
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) says that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has sent to the White House the Democrats’ choices to fill their two slots on the Securities and Exchange Commission. The two names put forward are Luis Aguilar, a partner at the Atlanta law firm of McKenna,…