FINANCIAL INDUSTRY AND REGULATION

FTC Files Appeal to Noncompete Ban Ruling: Bloomberg Law reports that the Federal Trade Commission filed an appeal last week to a Texas federal judge’s ruling that blocked its near-total ban on worker non-compete agreements.

Non-Public BDC Fundraising Up Almost 92%: The DI Wire reports that Illiquid and semi-liquid alternative investment fundraising totaled approximately $87.5 billion through September 2024 led by non-traded business development companies at an estimated $26.4 billion; interval funds at $20.6 billion; and other private placements, including infrastructure and private equity offerings, at $16 billion. Non-traded BDC fundraising is up nearly 92% as compared to this time last year, while non-traded real estate investment trust fundraising is down 49%, respectively 

SEC Fines BD For Violating Reg BI with Excessive Trading: ThinkAdvisor reports that the Securities and Exchange Commission has ordered PHX Financial Inc., a New York broker-dealer, to pay nearly $350,000 for violating Regulation Best Interest via excessive trading in eight customer accounts.

FBI Arrests Alleged SEC X Hacker: An Alabama man was charged last week over the January hack of the SEC's X account ahead of its highly anticipated decision to approve spot-Bitcoin exchange traded funds, ThinkAdvisor reports.

SEC’s Peirce Seeks Delay in Treasury Clearing Mandate: Risk reports that the U.S. Treasury clearing mandate should be delayed, SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce says, and a task force set up to ensure a smooth implementation.

Top SEC Exam Priorities Disclosed: ThinkAdvisor reports that the SEC Monday released its exam priorities for 2025 — with Reg BI, Form CRS, artificial intelligence and registered investment advisors' fiduciary duty topping the list.

Firm Hit with $4 Million SEC Fine Over ESG: ThinkAdvisor reports that the SEC Monday said that New York-based investment advisor WisdomTree Asset Management Inc. has agreed to pay $4 million for misstatements as well as compliance failures relating to the execution of an exchange-traded fund investment strategy that was marketed as incorporating environmental, social and governance factors.

SEC Chair Defends Texting Crackdown: SEC Chair Gary Gensler defended the agency's texting crackdown, reports ThinkAdvisor, saying that the SEC has found that "hundreds of people at dozens of firms were blowing right past the [off-channel communication] rules that even their firms had in place."

IRS Sets 2025 Tax Adjustments: The Wall Street Journal reports that the IRS brackets that determine how much Americans pay in taxes each year are moving up by 2.8%, their smallest amount in a few years.

State Regulators Ramping Up Enforcement: InvestmentNews reports that state regulators are increasingly focusing on newer threats to investors, according to the newly released 2024 Enforcement Report from NASAA, with a significant rise in enforcement actions against errant broker-dealers, investment advisers, and their representatives as well as a stronger emphasis on technology-related fraud, especially in the realm of digital assets and social media.

FINRA Tightening Rules Around Client Lending: Investment Executive reports that the U.S. Financial Industry Regulatory Authority is tightening the rules around lending activity between brokerage reps and their clients.

POLICY AND LEGISLATION

Tax Writers Look at 2025 Tax Brawl: Wealth Management reports that a tax brawl is brewing, and congressional tax committee leaders will be the boots on the ground negotiating, steering and crafting legislation to address 2025’s tax cliff.