The SEC announced fraud charges and an asset freeze against a trader at a Dallas-based investment advisory firm who improperly profited by placing his own trades before executing large block trades for firm clients where such trades had the potential to change the relevant security's price. According to the Commission, Daniel Bergin, a senior equity trader at Cushing MLP Asset Management, secretly executed hundreds of trades through his wife's accounts. Lofchie Comment: From a compliance standpoint, there are a number of interesting aspects of the charges. First, the charges emphasize the

Three top executives and a favored borrower were accused of masking non-performing assets at the Bank of the Commonwealth for their own personal benefit and to the detriment of the Bank. This long-running scheme contributed to the failure of the Bank in 2011, costing the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation ("FDIC") an estimated $268 million. See : Department of Justice - Press Release.

Effective November 4, 2013, firms are required to report over-the-counter transactions in equity securities to FINRA as soon as practicable, but no later than 10 seconds, following execution. With respect to trades that are reported manually, FINRA will take into consideration the complexity and manual nature of the execution and reporting of the trade when reviewing for firm compliance with the new reporting timeframe. The amendments also apply to trade cancellations, as well as stop stock and prior reference price trades. See : Regulatory Notice 13-19. See also : Amended rule text.

Global emerging market securities regulators met in Panama City and reinforced the need to play a more active role in global regulatory reform efforts and be involved at early stages of new international regulatory reforms to ensure emerging market considerations are reflected in the reform efforts. See : Press Release.

The IRS released draft Forms W-9, W-8BEN and W-8BEN-E. These forms will be used by individuals and entities to certify their status under FATCA and under the standard withholding tax rules. A revised W-9 will be filed by U.S. persons to provide its taxpayer identification number and to certify it is exempt from FATCA reporting. A W-8BEN is to be filed by non-U.S. individuals and W-8BEN-E by non-U.S. entities. The W-8BEN to be used by individuals is only one page long and is relatively straightforward, although no draft instructions were provided. By contrast, the draft W-8BEN-E is eight pages