By Ryan Finn and Simon Riveles In an effort to reduce the ever-increasing threat of identity theft, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) (together, the “Commissions”) recently adopted the Identity Theft Red Flag Rule ( or Regulation “S-ID”). Broadly speaking, S-ID requires entities regulated by the Commissions that maintain “transaction accounts” to develop and implement a written identity …
SEC Provides Guidelines for Use of Social Media in Compliance with Regulation Fair Disclosure
By Ryan Finn and Simon Riveles In the age of Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, companies and their executives are increasingly using social media to interact with customers, investors and the public. This rapid change in the way public companies disseminate information has presented challenges for the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC” or the “Commission”) in its application of Regulation FD (Fair Disclosure), which requires …
SEC Grants “Accredited Crowdfunding” Platforms Relief from Broker Dealer Registration
By Ryan Finn and Simon Riveles In two recent no action letters the SEC granted exemptive relief from broker dealer registration to crowdfunding sites on the basis that the platforms received carried interest rather than transaction base compensation. Although the SEC made it clear that the no-action letters were to be narrowly construed to the specific facts of each case, some commentators extrapolated that the …