News Centre

Florida Man Sentenced To 78 Months In Prison For Wire Fraud In Massive Internet-Based Ponzi Scheme - Venture Raised More Than $120 Million From “Members”

Date 29/08/2012

Thomas A. Bowdoin, Jr., also known as Andy Bowdoin, the founder and operator of a business known as AdSurf Daily, Inc., was sentenced today to 78 months in prison for running a fraudulent Internet-based advertising scheme that generated more than $120 million from tens of thousands of people across the United States and other countries.

Increasing The Vulnerability Of Investors By Commissioner Luis A. Aguilar, U.S. Securities And Exchange Commission, SEC Open Meeting, Washington, D.C., August 29, 2012

Date 29/08/2012

Today the Commission considers a Congressional mandate to amend our private placement rules, allowing issuers to offer securities by means of general solicitation and general advertising, provided only that all purchasers are accredited investors.

CFTC Charges Texas Resident Jonathan Hansen And His Company, J. Hansen Investments, LLC, With Commodity Pool Fraud, Misappropriation, And Commingling Of Funds - Federal Court Issues Order Freezing Defendants’ Assets And Protecting Books And Records

Date 29/08/2012

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) today announced the filing of a civil anti-fraud enforcement action in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, charging Jonathan Hansen of Pearland, Texas, and his company, J. Hansen Investments, LLC (JHI), with fraudulently soliciting and accepting more than $1.1 million from the public in a commodity pool scheme. Hansen exercised sole control and ownership over JHI, was JHI’s only employee, and has been a registered Associated Person of JHI since April 30, 2010, according to the complaint.

Statement At Open Meeting To Propose Rule Amendments Eliminating The Prohibition Against General Solicitation And General Advertising In Rule 506 And Rule 144A Offerings By SEC Commissioner Troy A. Paredes

Date 29/08/2012

Thank you, Chairman Schapiro.

When addressing a joint session of Congress last year, the President expressed his intent to “cut away the red tape that prevents too many rapidly growing startup companies from raising capital and going public.”¹ On April 5 of this year, the President signed into law the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act to do exactly that. The goal motivating the bipartisan legislation is to spur our economy and job creation by making it easier for companies to raise the capital they need to invest and hire. In this way, the JOBS Act promotes the SEC’s own mission, which includes facilitating capital formation. In promoting capital formation, the JOBS Act also stands to benefit investors by affording them a wider range of investment opportunities.

SEC Charges Florida Brokers For Defrauding Brazilian Public Pension Funds In Markup Scheme

Date 29/08/2012

The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged two former brokers in Miami with fraud for overcharging customers approximately $36 million by using hidden markup fees on structured notes transactions.

The AX Trading Network Conducts Its First After Hours Cross

Date 29/08/2012

AX Trading announced today that it had conducted its first after hours cross on The AX Trading Network ("The AX"). According to Bloomberg trade advertising service, AX Trading crossed 210,000 shares of SPN (Superior Energy Services, Inc. $21.32 -0.42, -1.93%) at 4:20 p.m. yesterday August 28, 2012. 

Opening Remarks Regarding The Proposal Of Rules Eliminating The Prohibition Against General Solicitation And General Advertising In Rule 506 And Rule 144A Offerings, SEC Commissioner Elisse B. Walter

Date 29/08/2012

In recent years Congress has directed the Commission to promulgate a myriad of rules. When Congress directs the Commission to take an action, I believe that we have a duty to take that action, regardless of our personal feelings about the policy choices that Congress made.

Joint Statement Of Dissent By CFTC Commissioners Jill Sommers And Scott O’Malia - Clearing Exemption For Swaps Between Certain Affiliated Entities

Date 29/08/2012

We respectfully dissent from the notice of proposed rulemaking to exempt swaps between certain affiliated entities from the clearing requirement.  While we wholly support a clearing exemption for swaps between affiliated entities within a corporate group, we cannot support the proposal before the Commission today because in certain instances it imposes an unnecessary requirement for variation margin on corporate entities that engage in inter-affiliate trades.

SEC Announces Advisory Committee Meeting In San Francisco to Discuss Small Business Issues

Date 29/08/2012

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that its Advisory Committee on Small and Emerging Companies will hold its next meeting in San Francisco on September 7 to discuss market structure and disclosure rules among other issues affecting smaller companies.

FIA And ISDA Publish Cleared Derivatives Addendum

Date 29/08/2012

The Futures Industry Association (FIA) and the International Swaps and Derivatives Association, Inc. (ISDA) today announced the publication of the FIA-ISDA Cleared Derivatives Addendum, a template that can be used by U.S. futures commission merchants (FCMs) and their customers to document their relationship with respect to cleared over-the-counter (OTC) swaps.