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 March 8, 2021, the Depository Trust Company (“DTC”), the Fixed Income Clearing Corporation (“FICC”), and the National Securities Clearing Corporation (“NSCC”) (each a “Clearing Agency” and collectively the “Clearing Agencies”) filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) a proposal to amend the investment policy for each Clearing Agency.» 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, March 18, 2021, the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission (“SEC”) instituted civil proceedings in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana against James Roland Jones of Redondo Beach, California, for selling what he called “insider tips” on the “dark web” from late 2016 into 2017.» Read More

In December 2020, NASDAQ submitted a proposed rule change to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) to add a diversity requirement as a condition for listing on its electronic stock exchange. That proposal would require at least two “diverse” directors or officers and periodic disclosure of aggregate data on gender preference, race, ethnicity, and sexual orientation.» Read More

On Friday, February 26, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced in a press release that they are suspending trading in 15 stocks in an effort “as part of its continuing effort to respond to exploit investors during the recent market volatility.”» 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