On Tuesday, May 25, 2021, the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) issued a notice (the “Notice”) that the Fixed Income Clearing Corporation (“FICC”) had filed proposed rule changes intended to enhance the ability to clear certain trades, particularly those involving repurchase agreements (“Repos”) on FICC.» Read More

On Monday, May 10, 2021, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) issued a Notice that the National Securities Clearing Corporation (“NSCC”) filed a proposed rule change with the SEC to raise the amount of the Minimum Required Fund Deposit to be made and maintained by member firms using the NSCC.» Read More

On Monday, May 17, 2021, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) initiated Administrative Proceedings (an enforcement action) against the S & P Dow Jones Indices, LLC (“SPDJI”), in connection with data integrity, for failing to maintain accurate and timely market information used for the S & P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures Index ER (the “Index”).» Read More

On Monday, May 10, 2021, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) issued a Notice of Intent to Issue an Order that “would adjust for inflation dollar amount thresholds in the rule under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (the “1940 Act”), which permits investment advisers to charge performance-based fees” to certain clients.» Read More

On Wednesday, April 7, 2021, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) issued Release No. 34-91492 publishing a Proposed Rule Change by NASDAQ to amend the requirements for listing ADRs on each of NASDAQ’s Global Select AND Global Markets.» Read More

On Thursday, February 4, 2021, the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) issued a Release (No. IC-34188) (the “Release”) entitled “Request for Comment on Potential Money Market Fund Reform Measures in President’s Working Group Report.” The President’s Working Group (“PWG”) had issued its “Report of the President’s Working Group on Financial Markets Overview of Recent Events and Potential Reform Options for Money Market Funds” (“PWG Report”) on December 22, 2020.» Read More

I have already written two blog posts on the GameStop Saga: “Rupture Rapture: Should the GameStop?” on February 2, 2021, and “Inciting to Rupture: Keith Gill and the GameStop Surge” on February 9, 2021. There are a number of other companies whose shares have seen buying surges akin to what happened to GameStop in January 2021: AMC Entertainment; Nokia; Koss, Corp.» Read More

In my February 2, 2021, blog post, “Rupture Rapture: Should the GameStop?” I noted that a report in the Wall Street Journal for Saturday/Sunday, January 30-31, 2021, identified a 34-year-old former Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. (“Mass Mutual”) “marketing employee” as the on-line “influencer “ who triggered the interest surge in GameStop.» Read More

GameStop, described on January 26, 2021, in the Wall Street Journal as a “moribund mall retailer” (which sold electronic games, but not many what with mall closures due to the growth of e-commerce, and even fewer after shutdowns due to COVID) has seen the share price of its stock (listed on the New York Stock Exchange) rise from a low of $2.57 to $483.00.» Read More

On December 9, 2020, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) in Release No. 5643 under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (the “Advisers Act”) announced the institution of an enforcement action against ICE Data Pricing & Reference Data, LLC (“PRD”) and simultaneously the settlement by PRD in which PRD was ordered to cease and desist from violative activity, was censured and was ordered to pay a civil penalty of $8,000,000.» Read More