The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) regulates US broker-dealers, a "self-regulatory organization" run by the brokers themselves and overseen by the SEC. A very popular online resource is called BrokerCheck, which lets you pretty easily check the regulatory history and licenses held by broker-dealers and...
According to Bloomberg, the Native Americans are getting ready to accept cash earned by cannabis growers and sellers who are not able to deposit it in regular banks due to the still federally illegal nature of what they are doing. The report indicates that only...
I attended a two-day Wharton School-sponsored conference on upcoming business opportunities on Cuba, the second such conference put together by my alma mater. Very high level fascinating speakers and very candid and blunt interactive discussions. Congrats to my friend Faquiry Diaz as one of the...
As the market for law schools finds greater challenge, Bloomberg reports that the average scores of new law grads on the multiple choice part of the bar exam have steadily dropped. And the July 2015 scores, unfortunately, hit a 25-year low. Some say this is...
As reported by Bloomberg, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission has now ruled that bitcoin, the peer-to-peer digital currency, is a commodity. This means the CFTC can regulate it and punish evildoers. Several in the bitcoin industry intend to challenge the CFTC's jurisdiction. They say it's...
Earlier today, the SEC's Advisory Committee on Small and Emerging Companies, comprised of a number of smart and thoughtful people I know, made some terrific recommendations to the Commission. The biggest, something for which many have been waiting for quite awhile: that private placement finders,...
Feel free to express yourself when paying a traffic ticket, at least according to a judge in Connecticut. The ABA Journal reports that U.S. District Judge Cathy Seibel ruled that the First Amendment protects one William Barboza’s profanity-laced comments when paying a speeding ticket in 2012. After he sent...
As we know, the new Regulation A+ rules passed by the SEC preempt state review of public offerings under its newly designed Tier II for offerings up to $50 million. States still can, however, require a "notice filing" of the offering materials, much as is...
As we still await the first completed Tier II Regulation A public offering, and rumors are swirling that several are getting close, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), which regulates broker-dealers, has confirmed what most already know. In a release a few weeks ago, they...
We all know about the famous letter from one Virginia O'Hanlon in 1897 to the New York Sun newspaper asking if there really is a Santa Claus. Her father encouraged her and told her, if it's in the Sun it must be so. The paper wrote an editorial entitled,...