When an enforcement action for a violation of the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act is announced, chances are the matter has already come to a close – by the time the action becomes public, the agency and the parties usually have agreed upon financial penalties and other sanctions to be levied. But that is not the case for ValueAct Capital and its affiliated investment funds. After the Department of Justice filed a complaint against ValueAct on April 4, the company did not take the allegations lying down. Instead, it vowed to vigorously defend its position.
CFTC Proposes New Regulations For Algorithmic Trading
On November 24, 2015, the CFTC announced the new proposed Regulation Automated Trading (“Reg. AT”), which contains a variety of measures designed to prevent potential market disruptions arising from algorithmic trading. Among other things, Reg. AT proposes certain pre-trade risk and order management controls, the implementation of policies and procedures governing algorithmic trading, and additional registration and reporting obligations. Many of these proposals were foreshadowed in a recent speech by the CFTC Chair, which we blogged about here.
Regulators Fail To Identify Cause Of Abnormal US Treasury Trading on October 15, 2014
Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Treasury, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the SEC and the CFTC issued a Joint Staff Report analyzing the significant volatility in the U.S. Treasury market on October 15, 2014. The analysis, however, “did not reveal a clear, single cause of the price movement.”
Cyber Security Regulations Ahead Says New York State’s Dept. of Financial Services
Based on a report released last week about cyber security vulnerabilities faced by financial institutions, New York State Department of Financial Services (“NYDFS”) Superintendent Benjamin Lawsky signaled that the agency will soon move forward with cyber security regulations. The report concluded that banks’ third-party vendors have significant potential cyber security vulnerabilities. Superintendent Lawsky said that the regulations will strengthen cyber security standards for banks’ third-party vendors, including potential measures related to cyber security representations and warranties that banks receive from their vendors.