SEC Acting Director of the Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations ("OCIE") Marc Wyatt spoke about the previous accomplishments of the OCIE and future exam priorities. Mr. Wyatt provided a recap of the areas in which the OCIE has focused its examinations since the enactment of the Dodd-Frank Act. These include advisers' collection of fees, allocation of expenses, marketing and valuation. He stated that the focus on these areas has resulted in "influence beyond exams," including greater attention and resources paid to compliance programs. Additionally, Mr. Wyatt noted, OCIE

The SEC announced that it will hold an Open Meeting on May 20, 2015 to consider whether to propose new rules, forms and rule amendments regarding registered investment companies and investment advisers. Specifically, the SEC will consider whether to propose (i) new rules, forms and amendments to modernize the reporting and disclosure of information by registered investment companies, and (ii) form and rule amendments to (a) require investment advisers to provide additional information concerning their operations, (b) require the maintenance of performance records and (c) remove outdated

The U.S. House Committee on Agriculture passed the "Commodity End-User Relief Act of 2015" (the "bill") by voice vote. The vote was reported to the full House along with a recommendation for passage of the bill. Sponsored by Representatives Michael Conaway (R-TX), Austin Scott (R-GA) and David Scott (D-GA), the bill would reauthorize the CFTC for an additional five years. In addition, the bill would enact various "narrowly targeted changes" to the CEA, including the following: Title I of the bill ("Customer Protections") would codify certain protections for futures customers that were adopted

U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and David Vitter (R-LA) introduced the "Bailout Prevention Act of 2015" (the "bill"). The bill would halt large bank bailouts during a financial crisis by limiting the lending authority of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System ("FRB"). Under the legislation, a bank would be required to prove it was not insolvent before receiving money from the FRB. The proof would be based on an analysis conducted by all of the federal banking regulators of assets and liabilities over the preceding four-month period. Additionally, the legislation would

The SEC announced that deputy chief accountant Dan Murdock will leave the SEC at the end of May to return to the private sector. Wesley R. Bricker will succeed Mr. Murdock in that position. Mr. Bricker joins the SEC from PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP, where he was responsible for clients in the banking, capital markets, financial technology and investment management sectors. See: SEC Press Release Announcing Mr. Murdock's Departure; SEC Press Release Announcing Mr. Bricker's Appointment.