All posts by Anna T. Pinedo

Anna Pinedo is a partner in Mayer Brown’s New York office and a member of the Corporate & Securities practice. She concentrates her practice on securities and derivatives. Anna represents issuers, investment banks/financial intermediaries and investors in financing transactions, including public offerings and private placements of equity and debt securities, as well as structured notes and other hybrid and structured products. Ms. Pinedo's full bio can be found here.
Compliance, Enforcement, Regulatory

SEC Chairman Clayton Shares His Thoughts With the Senate

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On September 26, 2017, SEC Chairman Jay Clayton delivered to the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs his first testimony as Chairman. A copy of his prepared remarks may be found here.

Mr. Clayton’s testimony was fairly broad in scope, covering a variety of issues of concern to the Committee, from the SEC’s budget request to its activity in the enforcement arena. Of interest to BDIA’s were his comments on:

  • Encouraging Initial Public Offerings and Investor Choice
  • A Fiduciary Duty for Broker-Dealers
  • Examinations of Broker-Dealers

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Additional contributor to this post:

Lloyd S. Harmetz, lharmetz@mofo.com

 

Compliance, Regulatory, Standard of Care

FINRA Publishes New Guidance on Social Networking Websites and the Application of Rule 2210

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In Regulatory Notice 17-18, FINRA provided additional guidance, in the form of 12 FAQs, on its earlier regulatory notices relating to the use of social media and the application of FINRA Rule 2210 (Communications with the Public). Specifically, the FAQs expand on the areas of recordkeeping, third-party posts and the use of hyperlinks to third-party sites. FINRA acknowledged that the use of social media and digital communications has expanded in the time since the last regulatory notice on the use of social media by member firms, which was in Regulatory Notice 11-29 in 2011.

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Additional contributor to this post:

Bradley Berman, bberman@mofo.com

Compliance, Regulatory

A Trio of FINRA Notices Focused on Capital Formation Issues

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On April 12, 2017, FINRA released three regulatory notices for comment that propose amendments to various FINRA rules affecting capital formation. In connection with its release of the notices, FINRA President and CEO Robert Cook noted FINRA’s continuing commitment to assessing its regulations and their role in facilitating capital formation. This initiative is part of the comprehensive self-evaluation and improvement initiative that FINRA announced several months ago called the FINRA 360 initiative. The initiative, FINRA’s recent request for comment on its engagement efforts, and these regulatory notices certainly reflect a new tone. In all three notices, as discussed further below, FINRA specifically requests that commenters address the economic impacts of the rules, including costs and benefits, and the specific effects on the capital formation process.

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Additional contributors to this post:

Hillel T. Cohn, hcohn@mofo.com

Lloyd S. Harmetz, lharmetz@mofo.com

Compliance, Regulatory

SEC Adopts T+2 Settlement Cycle for Securities Transactions

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On March 22, 2017, as previously anticipated by the market, the SEC adopted an amendment to Rule 15c6-1 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to shorten the standard settlement cycle for most broker-dealer transactions from three business days after the trade date (T+3) to two business days (T+2).  The SEC proposed the amendment on September 28, 2016, in connection with a variety of related changes to the SEC’s rules and the rules of self-regulatory organizations such as FINRA to facilitate the U.S.’s move to a T+2 settlement cycle.

According to the SEC, Rule 15c6-1, as amended, is designed to enhance efficiency, reduce risk, and ensure a coordinated and expeditious transition by market participants to the shortened standard settlement cycle.

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Additional contributor to this post:

Matthew J. Kutner, mkutner@mofo.com

Compliance, Regulatory

FINRA’s Engagement Initiative

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FINRA’s March 2017 announcement of its engagement initiative provides an opportunity for the industry to consider FINRA’s activities on a much broader level.

FINRA’s special notice reflects its previously announced plans to examine its rules and procedures based on its interaction with the industry.  For example, in his cover letter to FINRA’s 2017 examination priorities letter, Robert Cook, FINRA’s President and CEO, discussed his “never ending” listening tour of the industry.

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Additional contributor to this post:

Lloyd S. Harmetz, lharmetz@mofo.com