Reuters: SEC Staff Must Now Seek Commission Approval for Formal Orders of Investigation

SEC’s Republican-led commission tightens oversight of probes, sources say

In recent days, some enforcement staff have been told that they will need to seek the Commission’s approval for all formal orders of investigation, which are required to issue subpoenas for testimony or documents, the sources said.

Previously, such authority had been delegated to lower-level staff. The Commission had the right of refusal — something that it didn’t always exercise.

Reuters could not determine whether the Commission had voted to formally revoke the delegation of that authority, or who ordered the change.

Trump was supposed to help crypto, not sell coins

So when the president-elect himself unveils a meme coin (or, as they’re more crudely referred to, a sh– coin), the parts of the industry desperate for mainstream credibility collectively cringe. These tokens, often connected to viral figures or phenomena of the moment, have no cash flow, fundamental value or nexus to real life. The only purpose of the “currencies” is to enrich those who buy them low and sell them high. A man who is peddling his own coins — and extracting high fees along the way — is not the “crypto president” they’re looking for. […]

But they also pointed to a more existential problem. First-term Trump White House communications director and current crypto mogul Anthony Scaramucci put it this way: This “actually mocks the industry we are working so hard to build.”

And there hangs crypto investors’ and inventors’ paradox: The man they’re relying on to affix a stamp of legitimacy to their business is himself drawn to the aspects that make it seem so illegitimate to the wider public. Though the president is happy to promote blockchain at its best, he has shown he’s also willing to profit off it at its worst. Case in point: Holders of $TRUMP, reported Bloomberg, can now use the coin as payment on GetTrumpWatches.com, GetTrumpFragrances.com and GetTrumpSneakers.com to, well, get Trump watches, fragrances and sneakers.

Kalshi, an Online Prediction Market, Will Open Up to Brokerages

Online prediction markets soared in popularity last year in the run-up to the United States elections — and then claimed vindication when they appeared to reflect Donald J. Trump’s victory faster than opinion polls did.

Now one of the biggest players in the business, Kalshi, is moving to make its contracts available to more bettors looking to wager on some of the biggest events in politics, business and sports — from guessing the correct number of “yes” votes Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will receive in his bid to become Mr. Trump’s health secretary to which companies will run Super Bowl ads.

Kalshi is expected to announce on Friday that users will now be able to buy into its prediction markets directly from brokerages, just as they can purchase stocks or cryptocurrencies.

Two Boards Oversee Public Companies’ Accounting. Why Is One’s Independence More at Risk?

The Securities and Exchange Commission oversees both the accounting authorities at the Financial Accounting Standards Board and their auditing counterparts at the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board. But because of the way each is set up, the PCAOB is much more exposed to an overhaul as power changes hands in Washington.

PCAOB leadership has been revamped by the past two presidential administrations, and the watchdog is bracing for another shake-up under President Trump—even its potential elimination.

Fine Lessened but Man Must Still Pay Nearly $900K For Illicit Vistaprint Stock Trades

F. Dennis Saylor IV, chief U.S. District Judge for the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts, ultimately ruled that the jury’s findings were proper and in accordance with the law.

Still, he reduced the civil penalty that Chen was originally ordered to pay to $892,827, which was the amount Chen allegedly gained through his shady trading. Chen had been on the hook for $1,785,654 – his ill-begotten gains times two.

Saylor gave several reasons for lowering the penalty. They included that Chen is “not a person of substantial means” and that his “violation was not substantially more egregious than a typical insider-trading violation, and he does not work in the securities industry, which perhaps marginally reduces the temptation to reoffend.”

Texas Stock Exchange Startup Asks SEC to Clear 2026 Launch

The Texas Stock Exchange, or TXSE (pronounced “tex-ee”), has been courting investors and pitching its business for months, and asked the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday to approve its creation.

The group has raised $160 million, according to Chief Executive Officer James Lee, from the likes of the Wall Street heavyweights BlackRock, Citadel Securities and Charles Schwab.

If all goes smoothly with the SEC, the exchange hopes to start listing companies in early 2026. The company has nearly completed building an order-matching engine that would power the exchange.