he Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that Interactive Brokers LLC will pay an $11.5 million penalty to settle charges it repeatedly failed to file Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) for U.S. microcap securities trades it executed on behalf of its customers. In parallel actions, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and the Commodity Futures Trading […]
On May 15, 2020, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) issued a Regulatory Notice (“Oil-Linked Exchange-Traded Products”), which highlighted the fact that Exchange-Traded Products (ETPs), which provide different types of exposure to the oil market through several product structures, might not be understood by investors or investment professionals and that the performance of such products […]
On April 30, 2020, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) issued an a report (“Protecting Senior Investors 2015-2020, An Update on the FINRA Securities Helpline for Seniors, Other FINRA Initiatives and Member Firm Practices”), which highlighted the fact that seniors, who “make up an increasingly large share of the American population and hold higher levels […]
Real estate investment trusts (REITs) that purchase mortgage-backed securities are playing a prominent role in the current market turmoil, dumping their holdings in response to margin calls by their banks. The mortgage Reits entered the coronavirus crisis owning an estimated $500bn of bonds backed by property loans and have come under pressure because they use […]
As the Wall Street Journal noted this morning (‘Investors, Fearing Defaults, Rush Out of Junk Bonds’), “the specter of widespread corporate defaults in the coming months has caused a massive selloff in junk bonds around the world, as many debt-laden companies face the prospect of going weeks or months with virtually no revenue.” In fact, […]