Regulatory Roundup: September 17-23
CBO
GAO
Preliminary Results of Federal Efforts to Address Statutory Requirements
The federal government invests more than $100 billion annually in IT. But these investments can be poorly managed—resulting in IT that fails to deliver needed improvements and is often late and over budget. A law aimed at improving IT management requires agencies to review their portfolios of IT projects and high-risk IT investments. Our ongoing analysis shows that agencies haven't completed these reviews. This statement..
Cloud Computing:
Agencies Need to Address Key OMB Procurement Requirements
GAO-24-106137
Published: Sep 10, 2024 . Publicly Released: Sep 20, 2024 .
In 2019, the Office of Management and Budget established 5 key requirements for agencies related to procuring secure, cost-effective cloud services. As of July 2024, the 24 major agencies set policies and guidance that addressed some of these requirements but not others. For example, all the agencies had established guidance to ensure their chief information officer oversees agency modernization efforts. But most hadn't established guidance...
IASB
16 Sep 2024
IRS
Elizabeth Askey named Chief of IRS Independent Office of Appeals
IR-2024-245, Sept. 23, 2024 — The Internal Revenue Service today announced that Elizabeth Askey has been selected to serve as the Chief of the IRS Independent Office of Appeals (Appeals).
IR-2024-238, Sept. 17, 2024 — The Internal Revenue Service has appointed 10 new members to the Electronic Tax Administration Advisory Committee or ETAAC.
NYS
Governor Hochul Highlights $2.3 Billion in Tax Relief for Nearly 3 Million New Yorkers September 19, 2024
Sep. 20, 2024
SEC
Washington D.C., Sept. 19, 2024 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced registered investment adviser Macquarie Investment Management Business Trust (MIMBT) will pay a total of $79.8 million to settle charges for overvaluing approximately 4,900 largely illiquid collateralized mortgage obligations (CMOs) held in 20 advisory accounts, including 11 retail mutual funds, and for executing hundreds of cross trades between advisory clients that favored certain clients over others.
Washington D.C., Sept. 19, 2024 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Idaho-based investment adviser Inspire Investing LLC with making misleading statements and for compliance failures related to the execution of its “biblically responsible investing” strategy.
Washington D.C., Sept. 18, 2024 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced settled charges against Rari Capital, Inc., a supposed decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol, and its co-founders, Jai Bhavnani, Jack Lipstone, and David Lucid, for misleading investors and engaging in unregistered broker activity in connection with their operation of two blockchain-based investment platforms that, at their peak, collectively held crypto assets worth more than $1 billion. Rari Capital also settled SEC charges that it conducted unregistered offerings of three securities tied to those platforms. In a separate order, Rari Capital Infrastructure LLC, which took over operations from Rari Capital in 2022, settled charges that it engaged in unregistered securities offerings and unregistered broker activity.
Washington D.C., Sept. 18, 2024 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today adopted amendments to certain rules under Regulation NMS to adopt an additional minimum pricing increment, or “tick size,” for the quoting of certain NMS stocks, reduce the access fee caps for protected quotations of trading centers, increase the transparency of exchange fees and rebates, and accelerate the implementation of rules that will make information about the market’s best priced, smaller-sized orders publicly available. The amendments are designed to reduce transaction costs and improve market quality for all investors and to help ensure that orders placed in the national market system reflect the best prices available for all investors.
Washington D.C., Sept. 18, 2024 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced charges against registered broker-dealer First Horizon Advisors, Inc. for failing to maintain and enforce policies and procedures reasonably designed to achieve compliance with Regulation Best Interest (Reg BI). The charges relate to First Horizon’s recommendations of a type of derivative security called a structured note. First Horizon agreed to pay a civil penalty of $325,000 to resolve the SEC’s charges.
Washington D.C., Sept. 17, 2024 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced charges against 11 institutional investment managers for failing to file reports, known as Forms 13F, that they were required to file because they have discretion over more than $100 million in certain securities. Two of the entities, Nationale-Nederlanden Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne S.A. (Nationale-Nederlanden) and NEPC, LLC, were also charged with failing to file Forms 13H as required for large traders who trade a significant amount of exchange-listed securities. All 11 firms agreed to settle the SEC’s charges. Nine of the firms will pay more than $3.4 million in combined civil penalties. Two firms were not ordered to pay any civil penalties because they self-reported the violations at issue and otherwise cooperated with the SEC’s investigations, and another (NEPC, LLC) was not ordered to pay a civil penalty for its failure to file Forms 13H because it self-reported those violations and otherwise cooperated with the SEC’s investigations.
Washington D.C., Sept. 16, 2024 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today filed charges against Paul D. Roberts, the former Chair, CEO, and president of Kubient Inc.; Joshua A. Weiss, the company’s former chief financial officer; and Grainne M. Coen, the company’s former audit committee chair, for their roles in a scheme in which Kubient overstated and misrepresented its revenue in connection with two public stock offerings.