MA Securities Regulators Leaks SSNs of Advisers

According to Investmentnews.com advisers in Massachusetts were stunned after receiving a letter from the Massachusetts Securities Division, announcing that the regulator had accidentally leaked personal information on some 139,000 advisers registered in the Bay State.

The regulator, which headed by Secretary of State William F. Gavin accidentally released the social security numbers of 139,000 state registered investment advisers. According to the article a spokesman for the securities division downplayed the privacy breach stating "the important thing is there was no breach and that the material was returned in tact."

More political doublespeak? The release of the social security numbers of over 100,000 individuals is not a security breach? If an adviser made that type of statement to the Massachusetts securities division, they would be filing charges for misrepresentation - not to mention the violation of state privacy acts for the underlying breach - accident or not.

Why do the regulators get a pass for this violation? Is someone being fired and having their permanent record permanently marked?

More...

Federal Employees Paid 40% More Than Private Employees

Inflated Federal Pay: How Americans Are Overtaxed to Overpay the Civil Service. From the Heritage Foundation...

Open Letter to Fans from Cavaliers Majority Owner Dan Gilbert

I am not a basketball fan, and barely knew who Lebron James was before all of the hoopla this month, but the letter from the Cavaliers' Owner to the Cleveland fans is priceless. He is a bit upset over James leaving the team. Just a bit. But maybe he will take "the curse" with him. More>>>

Arbitration Panel Orders Goldman Sachs to Pay $20.58 million

Goldman Sachs has been ordered to pay $20.58 million to creditors of a failed hedge fund to settle claims that the bank helped the fund perpetrate a Ponzi scheme. More>>>

No Fund for States to Oversee Advisers?

If the legislation that is currently moving through Congress passes, state regulators will take responsibility for the oversight of all investment advisers who manage less than $100 million dollars, a change from the current benchmark of $30 million dollars.

While the state regulators have been pushing hard to increase their power through this piece of legislation, there is one small problem - they don't have the funds to regulate all of these additional advisers.

State Advisor Regulation Strains Budgets

Attracting Investors - Movie Industry

Many filmmakers begin their careers by persuading private investors to back them. Indeed, unless you are a star like Kevin Costner or Barbra Streisand, it is rare for a major studio to fi¬nance a beginning filmmaker. Banks will not lend money without substantial collateral. Loans based on pre-sales are difficult to obtain because territory buyers want packages with name actors from an experienced director. That leaves most film¬makers looking to Mom, Dad, and whatever they can scrape up from friends, relatives, and MasterCard. While such resources have financed many films, distributor’s expectations have risen over the years. With a glut of independent motion pictures available, many distributors are not interested in acquiring a feature unless it 1) is shot with name actors; or 2) wins an important film festival.
More at the Entertainment Law Resources Blog

Proposed Rules For Breaking Erroneous Trades

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced that the national securities exchanges and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) are filing proposed rules to clarify the process for breaking erroneous trades. The rules would make it clearer when, and at what prices, trades would be broken.

SEC to Publish for Public Comment Proposed Rules for Clearly Erroneous Trades