The CFTC filed a complaint against a Certified Public Accounting Firm, and its sole owner and auditor, which served as an independent auditor and conducted required year-end audits for a brokerage house registered with the CFTC as a Futures Commission Merchant ("FCM") under Section 6c of the Commodity Exchange Act ("CEA") to enjoin their unlawful acts and practices and to compel their compliance with CEA and CFTC Regulations. Moreover, the CFTC sought civil monetary penalties, pre- and post-judgment interest and other equitable relief. In its complaint, the CFTC alleged that: Defendants were

SEC Commissioner Luis A. Aguilar gave a speech at the Regulatory Compliance Association's 2013 program on Regulation, Operations, and Compliance which focused on training and education for the investment industry in general and alternative asset management firms in particular. Commissioner Aguilar said that, although surveys indicate that investors generally trust their financial advisers, investors' opportunities for mischief increase as the industry grows in size and complexity. He also said that, in 2012, 147 investment adviser-related charges had been brought by the SEC, the largest

The SEC charged Umesh Tandon, the CEO of a Chicago-based investment advisory firm called Simran Capital Management, with lying to potential clients and current clients, including the California Public Employers' Retirement System ("CalPERS") about the firm's assets under management ("AUM"). CalPERS and other institutional investors use AUM as a metric to screen prospective investment advisers soliciting their business. The firm undermined CalPERS' screening process by fraudulently reporting a grossly inflated AUM to obtain its business, and lured in other investors under false pretenses on

The International Organization of Securities Commissions ("IOSCO") published a consultation report which analyses global trends in the retail structured product market and proposes a regulatory tool kit ("Toolkit") for IOSCO members. Lofchie Comment: The report itself is interesting for its description of the retail structured products market around the world. There is very little of the report about the United States market. Starting at around page 37 is the description of the so-called regulatory Toolkit. Some proposed tools however, may have negative consequences for the market, such as a

The CFTC entered an Order requiring an FCM to pay a $400,000 civil monetary penalty for the failure to properly handle, monitor, and report the customer funds that it maintained, and for failure to supervise its officers, employees and agents. The Firm did not comply with various reporting or notification requirements, or with requirements related to audits and financial statements. Additionally, the Order's findings include: (1) the failure to maintain a separate account to cover its obligations to U.S. customers trading futures and/or options on foreign exchanges; (2) improperly holding non