SEC

SEC's Schapiro cements a different type of legacy

Mary Schapiro's job not well done.

FORTUNE -- We may now know why the SEC has been taking so long to finalize private placement marketing rules, as it was directed to do by this past spring's JOBS Act. From Reuters:

"Outgoing U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Mary Schapiro delayed immediately implementing a rule to lift a ban on broader-based advertising for private placements in part because she feared it would tarnish MORE

SEC hits Advanced Equities on Bloom deals

What did Bloom Energy investors know, and from whom did they learn it?

FORTUNE -- For several years, readers have sent sporadic emails about what they considered to be questionable dealings by Advanced Equities – a Chicago-based group best known for marketing large, later-stage venture capital rounds. Now the Securities & Exchange Commission is getting in on the act.

Last week the SEC charged Advanced Equities and its co-founders Dwight Badger and MORE

In Knight Capital fiasco, a flurry of rule changes

An increase in stock trading rule changes is making it hard for firms to keep up.

FORTUNE -- Perhaps the only thing moving faster than high-frequency traders are the changes to the rules that govern how they trade.

On the day of the flub that cost Knight Capital Group (KCG) $440 million in 45 minutes and briefly caused turmoil in over 100 stocks, the New York Stock Exchange issued three changes to MORE

Dude, where's my JOBS Act?

Parts of the JOBS Act remain in limbo.

FORTUNE -- Apparently the SEC thinks deadlines are for chumps.

When President Obama signed the JOBS Act back in March, several of the provisions went into immediate effect. For example, the so-called "500 shareholder" rule was converted into a "2,000 shareholder" rule, and a group of smaller private companies was exempted from certain reporting requirements when filing to go public.

But many of the provisions MORE

SEC warns against crowd-funding

Hold your crowd-funding horses

FORTUNE -- The Securities and Exchange Commission today issued the following statement:

On April 5, 2012, the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act was signed into law. The Act requires the Commission to adopt rules to implement a new exemption that will allow crowdfunding. Until then, we are reminding issuers that any offers or sales of securities purporting to rely on the crowdfunding exemption would be unlawful under MORE

CalPERS fraud case raises new questions

New charges in public pension corruption saga.

FORTUNE -- The Securities and Exchange Commission yesterday filed federal fraud charges against CalPERS CEO Fred Buenrostro and his placement agent pal Alfred Villalobos, alleging that they bilked private equity firm Apollo Global Management (APO) out of around $20 million.

For regular readers, this shouldn't be too surprising. Buenrostro and Villalobos were the tips of a pay-to-play spear that corrupted the nation's largest public pension MORE

VC fund registrations are a big snooze

Dodd-Frank requirement looks to have little value.

Yesterday I got sucked down the rabbit hole of SEC registration documents – the lengthy questionnaires that venture capital and private equity firms are now required to file with the SEC, per Dodd-Frank. Actually, "rabbit hole" is not the right phrase here, because what Alice found on the other side was actually interesting. "Time suck" would be more appropriate.

There was tons of information, but MORE

Exclusive: The $1.3 billion bond deal haunting Goldman

What went into the 2006 Fremont Home Loan Trust from Goldman Sachs that has the SEC so bothered?

FORTUNE -- The Securities and Exchange Commission is likely to bring charges soon against Goldman Sachs (GS) for a 2006 mortgage investment deal. The agency hasn't said which one yet, but Fortune has learned there's a good chance the SEC's case will focus on Fremont Home Loan Trust 2006-E, a bundle of more MORE

Drilling into Oppenheimer mess

Does Oppenheimer have an accounting scandal?

Last month, we broke news that Oppenheimer & Co.'s private equity team had spun out into an independent firm called Roc Resources. Just two weeks later, the WSJ reported that Oppenheimer was under investigation by the SEC and other government agencies for inappropriately changing the valuation of one of its investments, perhaps to make a new Roc-branded fund more attractive to prospective investors.

Upon first hearing about the investigation, I wondered MORE

Goldman could face new SEC charges on mortgage deal

Goldman Sachs says the SEC is looking into what it told investors about a $1.2 billion subprime bond. Sound familiar.

FORTUNE -- The Vampire Squid may get its tentacles slapped again or worse.

Goldman Sachs said on Tuesday that the Securities and Exchange Commission is considering filing charges against the bank for its role in a late 2006 subprime mortgage bond. The firm said the charges would relate to the disclosures Goldman MORE