The JOBS Act allows small private issuers to advertise and solicit investors while still remaining exempt from securities registration requirements. The MFA submitted comments requesting the CFTC to harmonize CFTC Rules 4.7(b) and 4.13(a)(3) (which provide exemptions from certain regulatory requirements for CPOs of private funds) with the JOBS Act. (A general description of certain provisions of the JOBS Act is is Section 7 of the Blue Sky Registration Requirements Manual.) View notice in full here(links externally to MFA website).

The SEC's complaint, originally filed on April 28, 2011, alleged that China Voice, former CFO Richard Allen, and former CEO and President William F. Burbank IV made a series of false and misleading statements and omissions regarding China Voice's financial condition and business prospects. In addition, the SEC charged China Voice shareholders Ilya Drapkin and Gerald Patera with financing stock promotion campaigns regarding China Voice. The SEC further alleged that Allen launched what became a Ponzi scheme that sought to raise at least $8.6 million from investors around the country. View

The Office of Chief Counsel under the Division of Corporate Finance at the SEC will not object if Touchmark Bancshares stops filing periodic and current reports under the Exchange Act after Touchmark files Form 15 to terminate its registration of common stock. This position is based on representations from Touchmark's post-effective amendment removing from registration unsold securities under its effective registration statement on Form S-8, and that this deregistration is pursuant to Exchange Act Section 12(g)(4), and with staff guidance on the requirements of Title VI of the JOBS Act. View

The SEC charged Manouchehr Moshayedi, chairman and CEO of STEC Inc. with insider trading in a secondary offering of his stock shares with knowledge of confidential information that a major customer's demand for one of its most profitable products was turning out to be less than expected. Moshayedi engaged in a fraudulent scheme to hide the truth about detrimental information that was at the time unbeknownst to the investing public, and proceeded with the sale of 9 million shares of STEC, from which he and his brother reaped gross proceeds of approximately $134 million each. View release in

A special SRO Committee has proposed additional requirements to the SRO rules and regulatory practices designed to strengthen safeguards for customer segregated and secured funds held at FCMs. The additional requirements would begin the process of confirming the balances of customer segregated bank accounts for all FCMs using a web-based electronic confirmation process and will develop rules to require all FCMs to provide their DSRO with direct online access to confirm segregated and secured funds balances at banks which hold the funds.