James R. Burns

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With its decision in Securities and Exchange Commission v. Keener (May 29, 2024), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit has now twice in the span of four months affirmed a broad interpretation of who is considered a “dealer” for purposes of the securities laws. More specifically, the Eleventh Circuit upheld the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (“SEC”) position that a person engaged in the business of purchasing—for its own account—convertible debt notes from microcap issuers (also referred to as “penny-stock” companies), converting the notes into common stock, and selling that stock in the market meets the definition of a “dealer” under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”), and must therefore be registered as a dealer with the SEC. The decision in Keener closely tracked the same Court’s decision in Securities and Exchange Commission v. Almagarby, Microcap Equity Group (February 14, 2024), in which the Eleventh Circuit agreed with the SEC that the plaintiff Almagarby had been acting as an unregistered “dealer” in violation of the Exchange Act by obtaining convertible debt of microcap companies for his own account, converting the debt into common stock, and then selling the stock. Continue Reading Keener, Almagarby, and the Scope of the “Dealer” Definition: Potential Implications for Fund Managers and other Investors

On May 16, 2024, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission” or “SEC”) adopted a final set of amendments (the “Final Amendments”) to Regulation S-P (“Reg S-P”) to require “covered institutions,” which include SEC-registered investment advisers (“RIAs”) and broker-dealers, to adopt an incident response program for incidents involving unauthorized use of or access to customer data.  The Final Amendments also require customer notification where the covered institution determines the compromise of such data could create a reasonably likely risk of substantial harm or inconvenience to an individual identified with the information.  Continue Reading SEC Adopts Amendments to Reg S-P

On March 6, 2024, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC” or “Commission”) adopted amendments to the disclosure requirements of Rule 605 of Regulation NMS for order executions of stocks listed on a national securities exchange.[1]  The final rule amendments expand the scope of entities that must comply with, and order types and sizes that must be reported under, Rule 605, and requires time-based metrics to be reported at a more granular level.  This is the first substantive update of Rule 605 since it was adopted in 2000. Continue Reading SEC Approves Amendments to Enhance Disclosure of Order Execution Information

On October 13, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) adopted new rule 10c-1a (the “Rule”), which establishes broad reporting requirements of the terms of securities loans to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) for public dissemination. Aimed at increasing transparency in the securities lending market, the Rule will significantly increase compliance obligations in the securities lending industry, and many market participants will likely require extensive operational upgrades to prepare for compliance. Certain details of reporting obligations will be the subject of FINRA rulemaking, and participants should be prepared to review and provide comment on what is proposed.Continue Reading SEC Finalizes Rule Requiring Securities Loan Reporting

On October 13, 2023, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) adopted (i) a new Rule 13f-2 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”) which will require a wide range of firms to file monthly reports with the SEC for large short positions in equity securities on a new Form SHO, as well as (ii) an amendment to the National Market System plan governing the Consolidated Audit Trail (the “CAT NMS Plan”) which adds an additional reporting requirement for CAT-reporting firms relying on the bona fide market maker exception to Reg SHO’s locate requirement.  The Final Rules, described in greater depth below, will require a significant compliance effort from firms and could potentially risk the exposure of certain valuable proprietary data. Continue Reading SEC Adopts New Short Position Reporting Requirements for Market Participants

On July 26, 2023, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) proposed new rules targeting the use of predictive data analytics and artificial intelligence (“AI”) by registered investment advisers (“RIAs”) and broker-dealers.[1]  The new proposed rules focus on the potential for conflicts of interest and the possibility that newer, more complex analytics models (including those using AI) might optimize decision making for RIAs and broker-dealers by placing those firms’ interests above the interests of their clients.[2]  The proposed rules would require RIAs and broker-dealers to: (i) evaluate whether their use of technologies “that optimize for, predict, forecast or direct investment-related behaviors or outcomes” create such a conflict of interest, and (ii) either stop using or address the effects of tools that place a firm’s interests before the interests of clients.  RIAs and broker-dealers will also will be required to adopt policies to ensure compliance with the new proposed rules.[3] Continue Reading SEC Proposes Rules Limiting the Use of Artificial Intelligence by Registered Investment Advisers and Broker-Dealers

On March 15, 2023, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) issued proposed amendments (the “Proposal”) to Regulation S-P, which governs the treatment of nonpublic personal information about consumers by broker-dealers, registered investment advisers, registered investment companies, and transfer agents.  The Proposal would broaden the existing “safeguards” and “disposal” rules under Regulation S-P, and would require the entities to adopt “incident response programs.”Continue Reading SEC Continues to Shine Light on Cyber and Data Security: Proposes Amendments to Regulation S-P