Insights

WSJ: Election Marks Crossroads for SEC

Wall Street Journal reporter Tatyana Shumsky writes: 

The Securities and Exchange Commission is likely to get a new chairman no matter who wins Tuesday's presidential election, raising doubts about the agency's priorities....

...The SEC says it already has completed nearly 80% of the rulemaking under the Dodd-Frank financial overhaul law, which was enacted in 2010. The agency's remaining tasks under the law include completing rules requiring companies to report how executive pay is linked to performance and to outline their policies on clawback and hedging and how they are enforced...

"A Trump chairman could go look at what's been done and go back and amend things," said Daniel Gallagher, a former Republican SEC Commissioner and now a partner at Washington-based consulting firm Patomak Global Partners LLC. 

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By: Patomak Global Partners

Forbes Op/ed: SEC Must End Mutual Fund Paper Chase

Paul Atkins, Patomak Global Partners CEO, writes in an op/ed in Forbes: Even amidst the rancor and divisiveness that currently blanket Washington, the federal government has a bipartisan opportunity to reduce costs and improve disclosure for investors, while in the process helping the environment, and eliminating expensive, unnecessary papershuffling. Unfortunately, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) struck out on an opportunity to get it done at its public meeting last month. 

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By: Paul Atkins

Business Insider: There’s a New ‘Hot-Button’ Issue on Wall Street, and Battle Lines are Being Drawn

Business Insider reporter Matt Turner writes:

"Information wants to be free," the technology activist Steward Brand once said. "Information also wants to be expensive."

That is proving true on Wall Street, where stock exchanges - in particular the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq - both publicly traded and for-profit, stand accused by rivals and some users of unfairly increasing the price of market data. 

The debate centers on whether that data is essential - some customers and rivals say it is, the exchanges say otherwise - and whether there is any competition in the market for that data...

... "My take is that there have been some abusive practices - the flucation, the aribitrariness with which fees have been jacked up, and the monopolistic power that goes behind it - there is a problem," Dan Gallagher, an SEC Commissioner until 2015 who is now president of the consultant Patomak Global Partners, told Business Insider.

Keynote Address: Broker/Dealer Regulation and Enforcement 2016

Over the last eight years, American businesses, investors, and consumers have been buried under a mountain of costly red tape. Now, I do not need to tell you that the economy is not as good as it could be. One of the major reasons is the growth of legislation and consequent regulation emanating from Washington that has stymied growth. 

Ignites: Slim Chances for Quick Revival of SEC’s Default E-Delivery

Ignites reporter Beagan Wilcox Volz writes: SEC Chair Mary Jo White announced last week that the proposal for default e-delivery of funds' annual and semi-annual shareholder reports had been dropped from the final fund reporting modernization rule, but said she had instructed the agency's staff to "vigorously evaluate" the investor protection issues it raised and put forth a recommendation by year-end. 
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By: Patomak Global Partners

Inside America’s Boardrooms: Former SEC Commissioner Evaluates the Board Governance Landscape

Dan Gallagher, former SEC Commissioner and President of Patomak Global Partners, LLC, joins host TK Kerstetter to discuss the current board governance landscape (video). 
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By: Patomak Global Partners

“A Day in the Life” of an SEC Commissioner

Inside America's Boardrooms with TK Kerstetter featuring former U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Commissioner Dan Gallagher talking about  a typical day at the agency. 

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By: Patomak Global Partners

Kurtosys blog: Dan Gallagher on DOL Fiduciary Rule and Market Developments

As part of our Kurtosys Insights series, we caught up with Dan to get his views on the effects of the DOL’s Fiduciary ruling, a potential Trump presidency, the UK’s “Brexit” and Blockchain technology. 

SEC Customer Protection Rule Self-Reporting Deadline Nov 1; Sweep Underway

Under a recently-announced Securities and Exchange Commission initiative, broker-dealers have been invited by the agency to self-report potential violations of Rule 15c3-3, commonly known as the Customer Protection Rule, by November 1, 2016. 

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By: Patomak Global Partners

The SEC Trajectory Post Dodd-Frank

Dan Gallagher addresses the SEC's recent activities after Dodd-Frank and the trajectory of the Commission at Equilar's annual Executive Compensation Summit in Boston.