Today's Highlights

First Reports - July 9

Receivership a/o Seizure of UBS's Assets within U.S. - - -  U.S. District Judge Alan Gold ordered the U.S. government to say whether it was prepared to shut UBS's U.S. operations if the bank does not cooperate in identifying 52,000 secret accounts suspected of tax evasion.   [WHO]

Citi Re-Shuffles Its Deck - - -  A series of management changes were announced, including the naming of its 3rd CFO this year.   [WHO]

Up Next for Marc Dreier: Sentencing - - -  Attorney Marc Dreier, who pleaded guilty in May to 8 felony charges in connection with his scheme to sell fictitious promissory notes, is experiencing a "Bernie Madoff-like deja vu" as he approaches sentencing on Monday.  [Get Linked]  [WWW]

P-PIP, Hooray: Investment Dream Team Emerges - - -  Nine investment managers were named by the Treasury Department to run the Public-Private Investment Program's combined $30bn equity and debt portfolio.   [BTN]

SEC Denies Having Backed Off Accused Fraudster Stanford - - -  According to Rep. Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana), SEC staffers deny that they "stood down" in their investigation of Allen Stanford and his financial services empire.   [BTN]

Lori Richards' Departure: SEC Shake-Up Continues - - -  As C-I reported yesterday, Lori Richards, head of the SEC examinations division (OCIE), resigned in what appears to be a broad overhaul of the SEC hierarchy, following its handling of Bernie Madoff's fraudulent "investment management" activities.

Getting past the "blame game" for the moment, C-I revisits Ms. Richards's words of wisdom on "Incentivizing Good Compliance."   [Get Linked]  [BTN]

Cyber Attacks on NYSE and Other Gov't, Business Sites - - -  NYSE.com was one of several government and business Web sites in the U.S. and S. Korea hit by a "denial of service" attack.   [RULE]

Morgan Stanley Loses Raiding Arbitration Case - - -  Investment News reports that Morgan Stanley lost a $1mn arbitration case filed by a small regional broker-dealer.  Get "rule of thumb" issues that factored into the decision.   [WWW]

C-I Index of Bank & Brokerage Stocks

July 8 - Latest Prices, Changes, 52-Wk Low/Hi

	* 22 (- 1)				Ameriprise (AMP)		12 – 50
	*  17 (- 0)				TD Ameritrade (AMTD)		9 – 23
	*  12 (- 0)				Bank of America (BAC)		3 – 40
	*  18 (- 0)				Barclays (BCS)		3 – 33
	*  28 (- 0)				Bank of NY Mellon (BK)		15 - 43
	* * 3 (- 0)				Citigroup (C)		1 - 24
	*  43 (- 0)				Credit Suisse (CS)		19 - 53
	*  58 (- 0)				Deutsche Bank (DB)		21 - 97
	* * 1 (- 0)				E*Trade Fincl (ETFC)		1 - 4
	*139 (- 4)				Goldman Sachs (GS)		47 - 190
	* 40 (- 1)				HSBC Holdings (HBC)		23 - 87
	* 33 (- 0)				JPMorgan Chase (JPM)		15 - 51
	* 26 (- 1) * 11 (- 0)				Morgan Stanley (MS) Royal Bk Scotland (RBS)		7 - 47     3 - 32
	* 17 (- 0) * 11 (- 0) * 12 (- 0) * 23 (- 0)				Chas. Schwab (SCHW) Banco Santander (STD) UBS AG (UBS) Wells Fargo (WFC)		11 - 29     5 - 19     7 - 23     8 - 45
	C-I Index        512 DJIA             8178 Nasdaq         1747				- 1.6% + 0.2% + 0.1%

First Reports - July 8

SEC Charges New York B/D with Selling "Roach Motel" Stocks - - -  Sky Capital LLC and 6 individuals were charged with raising millions from U.S. and U.K. investors who bought "roach motel" stocks - they could buy but couldn't sell - that later became worthless.  [WWW]

Swiss Will Block UBS Handing Over Data to U.S. - - -  CNBC.com reports that Switzerland vowed to prevent UBS from handing over client information to U.S. authorities, in an attempt to defend bank secrecy.   [RULE]

SEC Freezes Nationwide Ponzi Scheme that Enlisted Retail B/D's as Placement Agents - - -  Three Dallas businessmen were charged with operating a $485mn offering fraud and Ponzi scheme through a company they owned and controlled, Provident Royalties LLC.   [WWW]

WWW Quick Takes - - -  NYSE Amex: Caught Trading Ahead of Agency Orders;  CFTC Freezes Fraudulent $17M Commodity Pool;  SEC: Investment Advisor Disgorged over CMO Misrepresentations;  NFA: TX CTA's Borrowed While Unable to Repay Existing Loans;  SEC:  RR Operated Investment Funds as Personal Piggy-Bank.   [WWW]

Whose News is News - - -  MSSB Launches Female Financial Advisor Blog;  BNY Mellon Global Litigation Counsel Honored;  LTCM's Meriwether Shuts Failed Hedge Fund;  Cadwalader Offers 'One-Year Sabbaticals';  RBC Named Primary Dealer;  Weil Gotshal Closes Law Office;  Merrill, Credit Suisse Settle with NY over ARS Sales.   [WHO]

SEC OCIE Director to Leave - - -  Lori A. Richards, Director of the SEC's Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations, plans to leave after 14 years heading up OCIE and 20 years at the SEC.  [C-I Note]  [WHO]

CFTC Targets Speculative Position Limits and Enhanced Transparency - - -  CFTC Chairman Gary Gensler announced a summer series of hearings to consider regulatory options available to the Commission in efforts to carry out its duties and fulfill its mission.   [BTN]

First Reports - July 7

Who's News Quick Takes - - -  Bingham + McKee Nelson = Bingham McCutchen;  Cahill Gordon: 2nd Lay Off [C-I Note];  BofA Promotes 2 Key Execs;  SocGen Upcoming Quarterly Results;  BofA's Wealth Managers Crowned.    [WHO] 

Who's News Quick Takes: Take Two - - -  E*Trade Upgrades;  Ameriprise Looks to Buy;  CBOE's C2 Exchange Is NJ-Bound;  Stifel (sounds like stEE-ful) Takes Manhattan, Brings in Former Merrill Banker; 
Emmet Larkin Quits Clearing.   [WHO]

Tom Ricketts, TD Ameritrade & Apple Pie - - -  Tom Ricketts, whose family founded TD Ameritrade Holding (TD=Toronto Dominion), is buying a beloved piece of Americana.  [WHO]

UBS to Shake Up U.S. Brokerage - - -  UBS AG, has repeatedly considered a sale of its U.S. wealth management business, but now is opting to keep the business, and shake up top management.   [WHO]

UBS, Jefferies:  Can One Make Make a Difference?  Tell it to the Judge. - - -  UBS banker Benjamin Lorello, the "$540M  Man", has taken his successful healthcare group to Jefferies & Co.  [WHO]

Wells Fargo to Beef Up Securities Business - - -  Having departed from its conservative roots with the purchase of Wachovia Corporation, Wells Fargo & Co. now plans to expand its securities, according to the Wall Street Journal. [C-I Note]   [WHO]

SEC's New Deputy Director for Enforcement - - -  Loren Reisner, a former federal prosecutor and current litigation partner at Debevoise & Plimpton, will join the SEC's Division of Enforcement as Deputy Director in early August.   [WHO]

LPL Financial Picks Off Disenchanted Wall St. Brokers - - -  The brokerage unit of LPL Investment Holdings has grown into the 5th largest brokerage firm with over 12,000 FA's and, now, looks to get bigger.   [WHO]

Ex-Goldman Worker Arrested for Stealing Trade-Secrets - - -  Sergey Aleynikov, a computer programmer who worked in the New York offices of Goldman Sachs, was arrested and charged with theft of trade secrets.   [RULE]

New Options Linkage Plan:  Building a Better Mousetrap - - -  CBOE filed a proposed rule change that would facilitate the Exchange's transition to a new intermarket linkage structure - reflecting a decision by the country's options exchanges to adopt order protection provisions modeled after Regulation NMS, Rule 611.   [RULE]

Ruth Madoff: Feds Find No Smoking Gun, Yet - - -  Federal investigators have concluded, for now, there is no physical evidence that Bernie's wife, Ruth, actively participated in or concealed her husband's fraud.   [BTN]

CEP For Brokers: Fund Expenses - - -  WSJ columnist Karen Damato tested Investor IQ on mutual fund expenses.  How would the RRs at your firm do on the 10-question quiz?  Let's start with Q's 1, 2, 3, and see if they really understand what they're selling.  [BTN] 

First Reports - July 6

SEC 'Blew Off' Lawyer's Warnings About Madoff - - -  The Washington Post reported that an SEC lawyer warned about irregularities at Bernie Madoff's firm as far back as 2004.  And a "six-degrees of separation" issue is startling.   [BTN]

Look Who's Talking - Recent Speeches, Testimony (Through 7.1.09) - - -  Includes SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro's 6/18 address to "NY Financial Writers' Association" and SEC Commissioner Louis Aguilar's 6/18 and 6/23 speeches on hedge fund regulation and investment adviser regulation.   [Get Linked]   [RULE]

 SEC: Suspension of OTC Stock Triggers 15c2-11 Requirements - - - The SEC suspended trading in the securities of music production company GenX Corporation, a Pink Sheet stock, amid questions about and adequacy of publicly disseminated information.   [C-I Note]   [RULE]

Rule News Quick Takes - - -  SEC: Proposed Rule on Exec. Compensation;  NYSE:  On Road to a Nanosecond;  NYSE: New Rule 80B Circuit Breakers;  NFA's Redesigned Web Site;  CFTC: Account Ownership and Control Report;  MSRB's Report on 'Build America Bonds';  NYSE:  Registration of CTs and RCMMs.   [RULE]

Face-Off Time for Madoff Feeder Merkin - - -  NYS AG Andrew Cuomo vs. J. Ezra Merkin.  While collecting $470mn in fees over the past decade, was Merkin guilty of falsely claiming he actively managed his hedge funds, or was he simply fulfilling clients "unsolicited instructions" to invest over $2bn with Bernie Madoff?   [C-I Note]   [BTN]

[Courtesy ofAbovetheLaw.com]  

Palin Distracts Attention Away From Wall Street - - -  Alaska Governor Sarah Palin's decision on Friday to quit her job near month's end, reportedly was influenced in part by personal legal costs of the ethics investigation against her.  [Take Away]   [WHO]

Stories Featured in Mid-Day Bulletin: 7/2

After the jump, read the following stories that were featured in last week's daily newsletters:

• NYTimes Takes Swipe at SEC

• NYTimes Takes Swipe at SEC

• NYTimes Takes Swipe at SEC

• NYTimes Takes Swipe at SEC

• NYTimes Takes Swipe at SEC

• NYTimes Takes Swipe at SEC

• NYTimes Takes Swipe at SEC

• NYTimes Takes Swipe at SEC

• NYTimes Takes Swipe at SEC

First Reports - July 2

Dear FINRA B/D:  The Retail Muni Sweep Letter - - -  For the period, 1/1/09 through 3/31/09, FINRA requested 8 categories of information from selected firms, relevant to retail customer muni transactions.   [Get Linked]    [RULE]

Dear FINRA B/D: The 'Gas Bonds' Sweep Letter - - -  For the period, 1/1/08 through 12/31/08, FINRA requested 8 categories of information from selected firms, relevant to transactions with retail customers of certain fixed income products known as "Gas Bonds."  [Get Linked]    [RULE]

Stanford CFO to Cop Plea and 'Spill Beans' - - -  James Davis, the CFO of the Stanford Financial Group and a college buddy of Allen Stanford, will plead guilty to fraud and conspiracy after reaching an agreement to cooperate with prosecutors in their case against the Texas billionaire.  [BTN]

Second Reports - July 1

Curb Your Broker Proxy Voting - - -  The SEC voted to adopt a rule change that will prevent brokers from voting the shares they hold on behalf of customers in director elections, when the customers haven't instructed them which way to vote.   [RULE]

Madoff Cash Losses at $3B and Climbing - - -  The documented total of cash losses in Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme is nearly $3bn, according to bankruptcy trustee Irving Picard - based on 543 processed claims.   [BTN]

New FTC 'Red Flags' Rule Template - - -  FINRAhas developed a new, optional template that firms may use as a guide when fulfilling their requirements under the Federal Trade Commission's Red Flags Rule.  [Get Linked]  [RULE]

First Reports - July 1

SEC Previews Its Madoff Report - - -  SEC Inspector General H. David Kotz released several suggestions on how to improve SEC oversight of the financial industry.  [RULE]

SEC Message Case:  B/D, Parent Company, Personnel Choke on 'Free Lunch' Seminars - - -  Prime Capital Services, a broker-dealer, its income-tax-prep parent company, along with several personnel, were charged with fraudulent and unsuitable variable annuities sales to senior citizens.  [WWW]

Second Reports - June 30

Rule News Quick Takes (NYSE)- - -  NYSE, Amex:  Non-Regular Way Settlements;  NYSE Reg:  DPTR Decommissioning;  NYSE Reg:  Floor Conduct and Safety;  NYSE, Amex: Series 15, DMM Exams.   [RULE]

ICAP & Former Broker Fined, Sanctioned over Wholesale CDS's - - -  FINRA fined ICAP $2.8mn, and fined and sanctioned Jennifer Joan James, a former broker and manager of the CDS desk, for numerous improper communications with other interdealer brokerage firms.  [Take Away]    [WWW]

Time to Update WSPs for Muni Bond Changes - - -  FINRA member firms that engage in municipal securities business are advised to review and, if necessary, modify their policies and procedures to address MSRB's new EMMA system (effective 7/1), and recent MSRB rule changes (effective 6/1).   [Get Linked]   [RULE]

SEC: New MMF Rules - - -  The SEC issued a 197-page proposed rule release that's intended to strengthen money market funds (MMF's) and provide greater protection for fund investors.  [Get Linked]   [RULE]

FINRA's Muni Bond Sweeps   - - -  FINRA's declared war on broker-dealers and inadequate retail sales practices in municipal bonds.  The SRO's strategy includes sweeps into industry sales and supervisory practices.  [RULE]

First Reports - June 30

Ruth Madoff's Step Down, On Road to Contrition - - -  Last week's photo by a New York Post photographer seemed to capture it all:  Ruth Madoff, wife of Bernie, descended into the NYC subways, took an F train, and sat beneath an ad promoting a 99-cent cell-phone service.   [WHO]

Whose News Is News - - -  BofA Begins Succession Plans;  Wells Fargo Lays off Former Wachovia Securities Legal Personnel;  Citi Hires Morgan Stanley MD;  SIFMA's New MD for Global Comm and Member Engagement;  UBS Raises $3.5Bn, Ahead of Having to Pay up to $4.6Bn.   [WHO]

New York's New Metro Commuter Tax - - -  New York State has enacted a new tax, the Metropolitan Commuter Transportation Mobility Tax, that will be levied on employers for payroll paid on or after 3/1/09.   [RULE]

FINRA's New Rules for Trading Halts, Securities Offerings - - -  FINRA proposes to adopt new FINRA rules that would be taken without material change from NASD rules.   [RULE]

Where Does Bernie Go After The Sentencing? - - -  Alan Ellis, a lawyer specializing in federal sentencing and Bureau of Prison affairs, said in a Wall Street Journal interview he was surprised that Judge ChinG issued a 150-year sentence;  he expected 25-35.  [Get Linked]  [BTN]

Madoff Case:  The Impact of a Letter, an Earlier Guilty Plea - - -  One decision - many opinions.  The WSJ Law Blog expressed an opinion that "it appears that at least one victim statement was involved in the judge's decision."   [BTN]

NYTimes Takes Swipe at SEC - - -  NYT columnist Joe Nocera chronicled the SEC's relentless pursuit of Richard Kwak, a Connecticut broker allegedly involved in a small-time stock manipulation scheme, while they allowed "big fish" Bernie Madoff to swim free.  [Get Linked]   [BTN]

First Reports - June 29

THE MESSAGE - - -  Federal Judge Denny Chin sentenced Bernard L. Madoff to 150 years in prison, stating that "... Mr. Madoff's crimes were extraordinarily evil and that this kind of manipulation of the system is not just a bloodless crime that takes place on paper, but one instead that takes a staggering toll."    [RULE]

SEC Wells Notice to State Street - - -  State Street Corp., the world's largest asset manager for institutions, said in a regulatory filing it had received a Wells notice relating to an SEC investigation into disclosures and management of fixed-income investments through 2007.   [WHO]

WWW Quick Takes - - -  (i) MA Fund Manager Takes Ponzi Plea;  (ii) Former Latham Partner Sentenced for Defrauding Firm, Clients;  .   [WWW]

Citi:  Fundamental Problems with Compliance, Governance - - -  Citibank will be suspending all sales operations in its retail banking division for one month, beginning 7/15, because it had failed to set up a working system "to make notification of suspicious transactions, including money laundering."  [WHO]

IRS Okays Late 'FBAR' Report Filing - - -  Form TD F 90-22.1, Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR) must be filed by any U.S. taxpayer for non-U.S. bank and financial accounts if the aggregate value of the financial account(s) exceeds $10K at any time during the year.  [RULE]

Madoff Victims Stand In Line - - -  Not every victim of Bernie Madoff's fraud has the same standing to recover money.  Much depends on how investors contributed - i.e., direct or indirect - and how much they have already recovered - e.g., through withdrawals.   [BTN]

Ruth Madoff:  At Least She's Left with Pocket Money - - -  Bernie's wife, Ruth, has agreed to give up her potential claim to more than $80mn worth of assets, and agreed with federal prosecutors to keep just $2.5mn.  [BTN]

Unregistered B/D, Brokers Sold PIPEs - - -  Ram Capital, an LLC, through its principals, Michael Fein, 41, and Stephen Saltzstein, 40, was in the business of identifying investors of PIPEs (private investments in public equities) offerings.   [WWW]