The SEC charged global investment bank and brokerage firm Jefferies LLC with failing to supervise employees at its mortgage-backed securities desk who had lied to customers about pricing. The SEC found that Jefferies representatives, including Jesse Litvak, whom the SEC charged with securities fraud last year, lied to customers about the prices that the firm paid for certain mortgage-backed securities, thus misleading customers about the true amount of profits being earned by the firm in its trading. Jefferies' policy required supervisors to review the electronic communications of traders and

The SEC approved the MSRB proposal to consolidate its extensive interpretive guidance on the fair-practice obligations of municipal securities dealers into three new rules and amendments to an existing rule.The MSRB will codify into new MSRB Rule G-47 the existing requirement under Rule G-17 ("Conduct of Municipal Securities and Municipal Advisory Activities") that municipal securities dealers disclose material information to customers at or prior to the time of the municipal securities trade. The new time-of-trade disclosure rule does not substantively change the current obligations, but

The SEC voted to propose new rules that would enhance the oversight of clearing agencies that are deemed to be systemically important by the Financial Stability Oversight Council ("FSOC") or that are involved in complex transactions, such as security-based swaps ("covered clearing agencies"). The covered clearing agencies would be subject to new and "more robust" requirements regarding their financial risk management, operations, governance, and disclosures to market participants and the public. The proposal also would establish procedures for the Commission to use to apply the new

SIFMA submitted comments to the SEC on FINRA's proposed rule change to NASD Rule 2340 ("Customer Account Statements") involving per share estimated values of unlisted Direct Participation Programs ("DPPs") and Real Estate Investment Trusts ("REITs") on customer account statements.SIFMA stated that, since the FINRA-proposed rule change creates "a presumption of reliability for net investment or independent valuation methodologies which apparently may be rebutted by other facts," it is necessary that the text of the proposed rule be amended to reflect the "reasonably believe is reliable"

SIFMA submitted comments to the SEC on the MSRB's proposal to amend MSRB Rule G-30 ("Prices and Commissions") and delete Rule G-18 ("Execution of Transactions"). The comments focus on the nexus of execution and pricing, both of which SIFMA believes must be viewed together in order to form a complete and comprehensive best-execution rule. SIFMA requested that the SEC not move forward with approval for the rule to allow market participants to comment on a single filing with the SEC on dealer execution and pricing obligations. See: SIFMA Comment Letter. Related news: MSRB Notice 2013-15: Request