FINRA published its Quarterly Disciplinary Review Podcast, which reviews specific FINRA rule violations by registered representatives. The podcast discussed cases in which specific kinds of misconduct led to disciplinary actions, including the following: a representative's failure to disclose that he was selling a company's stock while soliciting customers to buy it; causing a customer to sign blank investment documents; altering a Series 7 Exam score; a registered representative's conversion of customer funds for his own use and benefit; a registered representative's engagement in outside

The CFTC requested public comment on the proposed collection of information on reporting and recordkeeping requirements that relate to the information management requirements for derivatives clearing organizations ("DCOs"). Comments are due by March 30, 2015. See: 80 FR 4549.

The SEC announced that it will hold a roundtable on February 19, 2015 to explore ways to improve the proxy voting process. The roundtable will be divided into two panel discussions: the first panel will focus on (i) the state of contested director elections, and whether changes should be made to the federal proxy rules to facilitate the use of universal proxy ballots by management and proxy contestants, and (ii) state law, logistical and disclosure issues presented by a possible universal proxy ballot process; the second panel will focus on (i) strategies for increasing retail shareholder

In separate actions, the SEC and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network ("FinCEN") charged Oppenheimer & Co. ("Oppenheimer") with violating federal securities laws, as well as the Bank Secrecy Act ("BSA"), while selling penny stocks improperly in unregistered offerings on behalf of customers. According to the SEC Order, Oppenheimer was involved in: aiding and abetting illegal activity by a customer; failing to file Suspicious Activity Reports to report the potential misconduct by the customer, and improperly recording the transactions in Oppenheimer's books and records; ignoring red flags

At a full committee hearing of the Federal Housing Finance Agency ("FHFA"), House Financial Services Committee Chair Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) delivered an opening statement in which he asserted that, through the FHFA, Washington is repeating the same mistakes that caused the financial crisis. At the hearing, which was titled "Sustainable Housing Finance: An Update from the Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency," Chair Hensarling asserted that the cause of the financial crisis was "dumb regulation" rather than deregulation, and stemmed from "Washington greed"; i.e., from lust for the