In a speech at the 2013 Insured Retirement Institute Government, Legal Regulatory Conference, SEC Director of Investment Management Norm Champ discussed (a) the Division of Investment Management's new Risk and Examinations Office ("REO"), (b) the SEC's internal communications and (c) issuer's disclosures to investors, particularly focusing on prospectus disclosure for insurance products. According to Director Champ, the Risk and Examinations Office (i) maintains an industry monitoring program focusing on financial analysis of the investment management industry, including monitoring various

The House Financial Services Committee passed four bills to reduce the red tape burden on job creators at a time when excessive and unnecessary regulations are hurting the nation's economy. The following four bills were reported favorably by the committee with bipartisan support: H.R. 1564 , the Audit Integrity and Job Protection Act introduced by Rep. Robert Hurt (R-VA), prohibits the PCAOB from mandating the automatic rotation of a public company's independent external auditor. H.R. 1105, the Small Business Capital Access and Job Preservation Act, also introduced by Rep. Hurt, exempts

ISDA published its final Market Analysis of the OTC derivatives market based on year-end 2012 statistics. The report highlights the significant impact that portfolio compression and central clearing have had on the size of OTC derivative markets in recent years. The publication of the Market Analysis corresponds with the release of the Bank for International Settlement's ("BIS") semi-annual statistical release, which covered the period ending on December 31, 2012. See: ISDA Press Release and Final Analysis.

The Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada ("IIROC") and the International Organization of Securities Commissions ("IOSCO") has announced the fifth joint investor education conference in Toronto, Canada. Global investor education leaders will gather on Thursday for a two-day conference to look at changing investor behavior across life stages and discuss financial literacy improvement. See: Joint Press Release.

The SEC Cross-Border Working Group (which focuses on non-U.S. companies that issue securities in the United States) charged China MediaExpress and CEO Zheng Cheng for falsely reporting significant increases in business operations, financial conditions, and profits immediately upon becoming a publicly traded company through a reverse merger. According to the complaint, after China MediaExpress materially misrepresented the company's financial condition, its stock price tripled to more than $20 a share. The SEC complaint seeks financial penalties, permanent injunctions, disgorgement, and an