Securities and Exchange Commission News

SEC Changes Its Settlement Language Where Criminal Violations Admitted

U.S. securities regulators said on Friday that defendants can no longer settle civil cases using “neither admit nor deny” language if they have already admitted to wrongdoing in parallel criminal cases. The policy change, announced by Securities and Exchange Commission …

Mines Must Disclose Safety Violations to Investors Under New SEC Rules

Mining companies will need to disclose to investors information about health and safety violations under new rules adopted on Wednesday by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The rules, which are required by last year’s Dodd-Frank Wall Street overhaul law, …

SEC Sues Brokerage Insurance Fund Over Stanford Victims’ Claims

Federal securities regulators have sued a brokerage industry backed fund on behalf of victims who lost money in Allen Stanford’s alleged $7 billion Ponzi scheme and have yet to recover any funds. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission asked a …

SEC Asks Companies to Disclose Cyber Attacks

U.S. securities regulators formally asked public companies for the first time to disclose cyber attacks against them, following a rash of high-profile Internet crimes. The Securities and Exchange Commission issued guidelines Thursday that laid out the kind of information companies …

SEC Concedes Challenges in Probes of Rating Agencies

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission faces hurdles proving wrongdoing at credit-rating agencies, the agency’s enforcement chief said, pointing to the complexity of the cases and the industry’s strong legal defenses. SEC Enforcement Director Robert Khuzami’s comments to Reuters came …

U.S. Court Fight May Not Solve Chinese Accounting Mess

U.S. regulators appear to be on strong footing in a legal battle over a Chinese auditor’s work papers, though their ability to act may have limits and a victory in court may not resolve a widening international accounting mess. At …

SEC Says Brokerage Fund Should Compensate Stanford Victims

In a major victory for victims of Allen Stanford’s alleged Ponzi scheme, U.S. regulators have concluded that they should be compensated by a brokerage industry-backed fund. The decision announced Wednesday by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission comes nearly two …

SEC Proposes Tighter Rules for Securities Brokers

U.S securities brokers would be more closely scrutinized by accountants and be subject to stricter rules for how they handle their customers’ assets under a plan proposed by federal regulators Wednesday. The proposal by the Securities and Exchange Commission is …

U.S. Regulators Define Swaps, What Falls Under Dodd-Frank

U.S. futures and securities regulators unveiled a crucial part of their expanded supervision of the swaps market on Wednesday, by defining what products will be covered by last year’s financial oversight legislation. The proposals provided the market some long-awaited clarity. …

SEC: Mid-Size Firms Should Follow Sarbanes Oxley Internal Control

Accountants at the U.S. securities regulator are recommending that medium-size public companies should not be exempted from a key auditing provision in the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley Act, saying the benefits to investors outweigh the cost. In a new study by the …