February 10, 2012 - The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has reacted to the ongoing regulatory probe into potential interest-rate manipulation by firing at least four employees.

January 26, 2012 - The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged a trader in Latvia for conducting a widespread online account intrusion scheme in which he manipulated the prices of more than 100 NYSE and Nasdaq securities and caused more than $2 million in harm to customers of U.S. brokerage firms.

January 19, 2012 - IDC Government Insights announced the availability of a new report, Best Practices: Regional Community Cloud Hubs – The New "Trickle Down" Effect That's Boosting State and Local Computing (Document #GI232470). According to the new report, IDC Government Insights believes a new type of government cloud services, labeled "regional cloud hubs", will significantly change the way state and local governments procure online computing services.

January 17, 2012 - International regulatory authorities have called for the urgent creation of a universal Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) in their final report on the OTC derivatives data that should be collected, stored and disseminated by trade repositories (TRs).

January 10, 2012 - The BIS-backed Financial Stability Board has set up a working group to deliver concrete recommendations on governance issues relating to the management of new Legal Entity Identifiers (LEI) in the global securities markets.

January 5, 2012 - The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged an investment adviser with trying to sell $500 billion-worth of fictitious securities on LinkedIn and other social networking sites.The watchdog claims that Illinois-based Anthony Fields used LinkedIn discussions to promote fictitious "bank guarantees" and "medium-term notes", managing to entice several potential buyers into expressing interest.

The SEC's order says he also provided "false and misleading information" concerning Anthony Fields & Associates's assets under management, clients, and operational history to the public through its Web site and in SEC filings.

Robert Kaplan, co-chief, enforcement division's asset management unit, SEC, says: "Fraudsters are quick to adapt to new technologies to exploit them for unlawful purposes. Social media is no exception, and today's enforcement action reflects our determination to pursue fraudulent activity on new and evolving platforms."

The action against Fields is part of a move by the SEC to step up oversight of how the investment industry uses social media, with the regulator taking the opportunity to publish alerts on the issue to investors and advisory firms.

The notice to advisers warns that firms need to consider how to implement new compliance programs or revisit existing ones in the face of rapidly changing technology.

An investor alert offers tips on how to be better aware of fraudulent schemes that use social media, and provides advice on checking the backgrounds of advisers and brokers. Meanwhile, an investor bulletin gives best practice guidance on things like privacy settings, security tips, and password selection aimed to help social media users protect their personal information and avoid fraud.

"More and more, investors are using social media to help them with investment decisions. While social media can provide many benefits for investors, it also makes an attractive target for fraudsters. The Investor Alert provides some useful tips to help investors look out for securities fraud online," says Lori Schock, director, Office of Investor Education and Advocacy.

The SEC's action comes as the US Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (Finra) backs away from proposals that would have required broker dealers to monitor and report all social media postings by representatives and affiliates. In an amendment to its package of social media compliance demands filed with the SEC late last month, Finra stated that it would exclude messages on online interactive forums from a post-use filing requirement. The self-regulatory body said that the change was instituted in response to member concerns over the scale of the data management challenge imposed by the proposed rule.

December 20, 2011 - The Federal Reserve Board on Tuesday proposed steps to strengthen regulation and supervision of large bank holding companies and systemically important nonbank financial firms. The proposal, which includes a wide range of measures addressing issues such as capital, liquidity, credit exposure, stress testing, risk management, and early remediation requirements, is mandated by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.