The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced settled charges against broker-dealer SG Americas Securities LLC for failing to provide complete and accurate securities trading information known as "blue sheet data."  SG Americas agreed to pay a $1.55 million civil penalty to resolve the SEC's charges and separately agreed to pay $1.55 million to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) to resolve parallel charges.

According to the SEC's order, for more than five years, SG Americas made numerous deficient blue sheet submissions containing missing or inaccurate data, largely due to undetected coding errors. The order finds that SG Americas submitted missing or incorrect data for approximately 27.6 million transactions and had inadequate processes designed to validate the accuracy of its submissions. Broker-dealers are required to provide trade data, which the SEC uses to carry out its enforcement and regulatory obligations, including...

Summary: This guidance provides additional views of the Division of Corporation Finance regarding operations, liquidity, and capital resources disclosures companies should consider with respect to business and market disruptions related to COVID-19.

Supplemental Information: The statements in this CF Disclosure Guidance represent the views of the Division of Corporation Finance. This guidance is not a rule, regulation or statement of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Further, the Commission has neither approved nor disapproved its content. This guidance, like all staff guidance, has no legal force or effect: it does not alter or amend applicable law, and it creates no new or additional obligations for any person.

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced an award of about $125,000 to a whistleblower whose information and assistance helped both the SEC and another agency bring successful actions against the perpetrator of a fraudulent securities offering.   

“The whistleblower’s tip helped stop a fraudulent scheme that preyed on a vulnerable investor community,” said Jane Norberg, Chief of the SEC’s Office of the Whistleblower. “Whistleblowers like the individual receiving the award today provide a valuable public service, and we encourage others to come forward with information regarding possible securities laws violations.”

The SEC has awarded approximately $501 million to 85 individuals since issuing its first award in 2012.  All payments are made out of an investor protection fund established by Congress that is financed entirely through monetary sanctions paid to the SEC by securities law violators.  No money has been taken or...

Good afternoon and welcome to this SEC-sponsored virtual forum to discuss equity market structure.[1]  I want to begin by thanking Deborah Lucas for her kind introduction and Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim for giving us his insightful perspective.  Promoting competition is a core objective of U.S. antitrust and securities law, and I very much appreciated hearing his insights.

Today marks the third consecutive year that Director Redfearn and I have addressed equity market structure.  Our remarks have focused on three areas needing close attention—improving the market for thinly traded securities, combatting retail fraud, and addressing concerns about the quality and cost of market data.[2]  Here I am very pleased that we have meaningful progress to report as well as some key initiatives we are working to complete.  I would like to take a moment to commend the Commission’s dedicated staff for continuing to serve the public without...

The Securities and Exchange Commission and the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division have signed an interagency Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to foster cooperation and communication between the agencies with the aim of enhancing competition in the securities industry. Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim of the Antitrust Division announced the first-ever MOU between the Antitrust Division and the SEC, which was executed with SEC Chairman Jay Clayton, before a discussion on equity market structure hosted by MIT’s Golub Center for Finance and Policy this afternoon.

“As competition is embedded in our securities laws, there are many policy areas where the missions of the SEC and DOJ’s Antritrust Division align, but where our respective areas of expertise differ,” said SEC Chairman Jay Clayton. “By formalizing the exchange of knowledge between our agencies, we aim to foster even greater collaboration and cooperation to ensure that we maintain the efficient and...

Chairman Jay Clayton and SEC's Division of Trading and Markets Director Brett Redfearn will hold a conversation on market structure. The event, which will be webcast live on SEC.gov, will also feature remarks from Makan Delrahim, Assistant Attorney General, Antitrust Division, U.S. Department of Justice, and a representative from the MIT Sloan School of Management.

Good morning and thank you for having me at the 39th annual Government-Business Forum on Small Business Capital Formation. I wish we could all be sitting together in the same room, but I’m grateful that we are able to go forward with the Forum in a virtual environment. I want to thank our Small Business Advocate, Martha Legg Miller, and her staff for putting together this excellent program. Thanks also to all the speakers and panelists for coming together today to share your experiences and insights.

It’s challenging to put together an event like this in the present circumstances, and for many it can be challenging even to absorb the daily news and still focus on our day-to-day work. But those very challenges make it all the more important that we go forward with this event for a several different reasons.

First, we know small businesses are particularly vulnerable in our current economic circumstances and it’s critically important that we find ways to support...

Good morning and thank you for having me at the 39th annual Government-Business Forum on Small Business Capital Formation. I wish we could all be sitting together in the same room, but I’m grateful that we are able to go forward with the Forum in a virtual environment. I want to thank our Small Business Advocate, Martha Legg Miller, and her staff for putting together this excellent program. Thanks also to all the speakers and panelists for coming together today to share your experiences and insights.

It’s challenging to put together an event like this in the present circumstances, and for many it can be challenging even to absorb the daily news and still focus on our day-to-day work. But those very challenges make it all the more important that we go forward with this event for a several different reasons.

First, we know small businesses are particularly vulnerable in our current economic circumstances and it’s critically important that we find ways to support...

Good morning and welcome everyone to what I am pretty sure is the thirty-ninth annual, but first ever virtual, Government-Business Forum on Small Business Capital Formation. I attended the past two forums, in Columbus and Omaha, and think of them as among the best events the SEC has held. Each drew knowledgeable and diverse participants, had panels that discussed great ideas, and helped shape my own thinking and appreciation for entrepreneurship.

I have been particularly looking forward to this year’s Small Business Forum, and it comes at a critical time. Like many, I have been thinking a lot about our nation’s small businesses and the immense challenges they have faced over the past few months. The number of businesses whose operations have been curtailed or completely shut down amidst the pandemic is staggering. While public policy efforts such as those through the CARES Act appear to have provided some help, great uncertainty still prevents many from being able to...

Good morning and welcome everyone to what I am pretty sure is the thirty-ninth annual, but first ever virtual, Government-Business Forum on Small Business Capital Formation. I attended the past two forums, in Columbus and Omaha, and think of them as among the best events the SEC has held. Each drew knowledgeable and diverse participants, had panels that discussed great ideas, and helped shape my own thinking and appreciation for entrepreneurship.

I have been particularly looking forward to this year’s Small Business Forum, and it comes at a critical time. Like many, I have been thinking a lot about our nation’s small businesses and the immense challenges they have faced over the past few months. The number of businesses whose operations have been curtailed or completely shut down amidst the pandemic is staggering. While public policy efforts such as those through the CARES Act appear to have provided some help, great uncertainty still prevents many from being able to...

Good afternoon. Thank you to Martha Miller and her team for putting together this virtual forum and thank you to the participants for taking time out of your busy schedules today to share your first-hand knowledge of the challenges small businesses face in raising capital. Today’s agenda is ambitious, so I will keep my remarks brief.

One topic that I anticipate will make an appearance in this afternoon’s discussion is finders. Great uncertainty persists in this area because of decades of Commission inaction and a patchwork of shifting positions in staff no-action letters. Indeed, this forum first advocated for reform in 1998 and has raised the request repeatedly over the last two decades. The need for more clarity on finders is, under current circumstances, particularly acute. At last month’s Small Business Capital Formation Advisory Committee, committee member Greg Yadley explained,

Particularly these days, where companies are going to become even more desperate...

Good afternoon. Thank you to Martha Miller and her team for putting together this virtual forum and thank you to the participants for taking time out of your busy schedules today to share your first-hand knowledge of the challenges small businesses face in raising capital. Today’s agenda is ambitious, so I will keep my remarks brief.

One topic that I anticipate will make an appearance in this afternoon’s discussion is finders. Great uncertainty persists in this area because of decades of Commission inaction and a patchwork of shifting positions in staff no-action letters. Indeed, this forum first advocated for reform in 1998 and has raised the request repeatedly over the last two decades. The need for more clarity on finders is, under current circumstances, particularly acute. At last month’s Small Business Capital Formation Advisory Committee, committee member Greg Yadley explained,

Particularly these days, where companies are going to become even more desperate...

Beginning in summer 2020, registered broker-dealers and registered investment advisers will be required to provide a new customer or client relationship summary (also called Form CRS) to retail investors.  SEC staff designed this Investor.gov page to help investors better understand how to use the relationship summary when choosing a financial professional.  This page also provides links to educational resources and a free and simple search tool that can help you research firms and financial professionals.