Jim Hamilton’s World of Securities Regulation: States Propose Adding Senior Provisions to List of Unethical Practices for Broker-Dealers, Agents, IAs and IA Reps. States Propose Adding Senior Provisions to List of Unethical Practices for Broker-Dealers, Agents, IAs and IA Reps. Missouri, Virginia and Washington are among the first states to propose rules prohibiting state-registered broker-dealers, agents, investment advisers and investment adviser representatives from using certain professional designations that state or imply specialized knowledge of the financial needs of senior investors. These rules are being promulgated to combat the abuse the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) is documenting in the senior community …

globeandmail.com: Streetwise - CIBC faces more monoline write-offs CIBC faces more monoline write-offs Andrew Willis, May 21, 2008 at 2:43 PM EDT * Post the first comment * Back to the blog For all the brave talk that the worst is over in credit markets, CIBC still faces the potential for further writedowns on its exposure to monoline insurers. Rating agency Moody’s took an axe to CIBC counterparty CIFG on Tuesday, downgrading the monoline by a dramatic seven notches, from A1 to Ba2.

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Ideoblog: Hot off the press: Butler and Ribstein on insurance Hot off the press: Butler and Ribstein on insurance Insurance is currently regulated by the states, and they’ve made a mess of it. The federal government is closing in. Henry Butler & I have an answer — model insurance regulation on corporate governance. The paper is A Single-License Approach to Regulating Insurance. Here’s the abstract: State regulation of insurance companies has been criticized for many years because of the burden imposed on insurers by having to comply with the laws of many jurisdictions. These higher costs are passed on to consumers. The problems with the current regulatory structure are prompting calls for increased federal regulation of insurance. However, all proposals to federalize insurance regulation create opportunities for abuse at the hands of the federal government and fail to utilize the benefits of a federal system. This article shows how many of the problems of the current system can be addressed without resorting to a large scale intrusion of federal regulators into insurance markets. …

reportonbusiness.com: BCE FAQs BCE FAQs ANDREW WILLIS

Who exactly threw up this roadblock to the BCE buyout?

A collection of blue life insurers and money managers that own $1.4-billion BCE bonds sued to block the buyout, as the prospect of a debt-heavy company hammered the price of bonds they own. The Quebec Court of Appeal agreed Wednesday that the buyout wasn’t fair to these bondholders.

BCE has a total of $5.1-billion of outstanding corporate bonds, and the planned buyout would add another $34-billion of debt.

 

Advisor.ca - Daily News - Fraud immunity threatens to derail deal May 20, 2008 | Mark Noble A requirement that would extinguish the right of noteholders to bring legal action against the sponsors of asset-backed commercial paper (ABCP) — even in the event of perceived fraud — does not sit well with the judge tasked with giving final approval to a restructuring deal on $32 billion of the frozen investments.

Stock Broker Fraud Blog :: Published by Houston Securities Fraud Lawyers Shepherd Smith & Edwards Former Broker-Dealer Chanin Capital Settles SEC Charges That It Failed to Set Up Proper Insider Policies and Processes Former broker-dealer Chanin Capital LLC says it will pay a $75,000 fine to settle Securities and Exchange Commission charges that it failed to set up procedures and policies to prevent employees and others from misusing inside information. The firm’s compliance officer at the time, A. Carlos Martinez, agreed to cease and desist from further violations and to pay $25,000 in a related SEC administrative proceeding.

SEC Director Erik Sirri Says Direct Market Access Systems Guidance For Broker-Dealers Is In The Works :: Stock Broker Fraud Blog SEC Director Erik Sirri Says Direct Market Access Systems Guidance For Broker-Dealers Is In The Works At a Security Traders Association conference in Washington DC earlier this month, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Trading and Markets Director Erik Sirri told broker-dealers to “look for guidance” when using direct access systems when making trades.

Our Data, Ourselves Our Data, Ourselves Bruce Schneier Email 05.15.08 | 2:00 PM In the information age, we all have a data shadow.

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We need a comprehensive data privacy law. This law should protect all information about us, and not be limited merely to financial or health information. It should limit others’ ability to buy and sell our information without our knowledge and consent. It should allow us to see information about us held by others, and correct any inaccuracies we find. It should prevent the government from going after our information without judicial oversight. It should enforce data deletion, and limit data collection, where necessary. And we need more than token penalties for deliberate violations.

The ABCP players: an update - FP Legal Post The ABCP players: an update Posted: May 20, 2008, 2:59 PM by Jim Middlemiss Litigation, ABCP file Here’s the latest ABCP lineup of lawyers, law firms and their clients who are on the $32-billion non-bank asset-backed commercial paper file, based on the May 6th CCAA service filing list.

Bloomberg.com: Exclusive Hedge Funds in Swaps Face Peril With Rising Junk Bond Defaults