What Happens in Vegas….

…. needs to be discussed (when it involves securities laws)!  Last month I had the opportunity to attend the Utah State Bar Annual Securities Law Section Workshop in Las Vegas.  The conference wasO full of interesting speakers discussing some of the hot topics in securities law.  Among the topics was “FINRA as a Gatekeeper” presented by Chris Stone from FINRA, “Broker-Dealer Obligations in Private Placements” presented by Brian Lebrecht of this frm and Lisa Roth at Keystone Capital Group, a registered broker dealer, “Progress and Updates in the OTC Markets Group/OTCQX Evolution” presented by Tim Ryan, Managing Director, Head of Sales, Business and Development, OTC Markets Group, and “Regulation of Investment Advisors: A Changing Landscape” presented by David A. Russon, Presiden, Investment Management Consultants.  While there were several other presenters on various topics, I mention these four because they tied in nicely together.  Mr. Stone’s and Mr. Ryan’s presentations offered an interesting contrast between FINRA and its OTC Bulletin Board marketplace, and the OTC Markets and its various trading tiers.  Although there were several differences of opinion between the two presentations, one thing was clear, the shift to the OTC Markets trading platform is well underway.  The cause and reasons for the shift may be in doubt, but the results are not.  If SEC comes around and stops differentiating between the OTC Bulletin Board and the OTCQB for such things such recogniizng the OTC Bulletin Board as an established public market for pricing shares in a registration statement, but not the OTCQB, the full transfer will likely take place.  The Broker-Dealer and registered investment advisors presentations discussed the changing regulations and compliance issues facing broker-dealers and registered investment advisors, respectively.  These developments are too numerous to discuss here, however, although the regulations covering these two groups differ, the changing regulations on both these segments will lead to increased regulation of both and the need for both to follow recent developments closely.  See past and upcoming articles in our firm newsletter for updates on both these areas.  Overall the conference was quite interesting the upcoming developments in securities laws bear watching.