Securities and Exchange Commission – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Securities and Exchange Commission (``SEC'' or ``Commission'') is reissuing and revising a proposal that was initially published in September 2011 that would implement a provision under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (``Dodd-Frank Act'') prohibiting an underwriter, placement agent, initial purchaser, or sponsor of an asset-backed security (including a synthetic asset-backed security), or any affiliate or subsidiary of any such entity, from engaging in any transaction that would involve or result in certain material conflicts of interest.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (``SEC'' or ``Commission''), with the concurrence of the Office of Government Ethics (``OGE''), is jointly issuing with OGE this proposed rule for Commission members and employees. This proposed rule would amend the existing Supplemental Standards of Ethical Conduct for Members and Employees of the Securities and Exchange Commission (``Supplemental Standards'') jointly issued by SEC and OGE, would supplement the Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch (OGE Standards) issued by OGE, and is necessary and appropriate to address ethical issues unique to the SEC. The Commission is proposing to revise transaction and reporting requirements for certain assets that pose a low risk of conflicts of interest or appearance concerns, and to prohibit employee ownership of sector funds that have a stated policy of concentrating their investments in entities directly regulated by the Commission. Further, the Commission proposes to authorize collection of covered securities transactions and holdings data from financial institutions through a third-party automated compliance system. The Commission also proposes to correct certain technical matters and adjust its transaction and reporting requirements to provide the flexibility necessary to implement a third-party automated compliance system.