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Steven Lofchie is the Chief Legal Architect and a co-founder of Caffrey.AI, an AI platform built for law firms, banks, and the financial regulatory industry. He is also a partner at Norton Rose Fulbright, where he advises financial institutions on securities laws, the Commodity Exchange Act, and broker-dealer regulation. Ranked by Chambers USA every year since 2007, he is the author of “Lofchie’s Guide to Broker-Dealer Regulation,” long considered the leading treatise on the subject.

Recent Articles & Comments

Notably, the Office suggests that the way to help small businesses raise capital is to provide them with some lessening of regulation.

Chair Gensler begins his discussion of SPACs with a philosophical principle: "like activities [should be treated in a] like [manner]." He argues that SPACs and traditional IPOs are alike, but are regulated differently, with SPAC offerings benefited by being subject to less regulation. Mr. Gensler reported that SPACs have come to account for more than three-fifths of U.S. public offerings, substantially outpacing traditional IPOs. His response to this trend, based on his starting…

A number of Mr. Quarles' remarks indicate that there should be some modest decrease of bank capital calibration, particularly as to the treatment of foreign banks and as to the leverage ratio. It is unlikely that those suggestions will be priorities for the current administration.

The most significant "big picture" remarks made by Mr. Quarles were as to the role of the Federal Reserve in extending credit following the pandemic. In particular, he asserted that the Federal Reserve's…

SEC Chair Gensler has several times urged operators of crypto exchanges to come in and meet with the SEC. But he offers them no reason to do so. If Chair Gensler really wants these exchanges to meet with the SEC, he needs to offer them some inducement to do so. One good way to start would be for Chair Gensler to engage with Commissioner Peirce on better defining those crypto assets that should not be regulated as securities.