Securities Regulation Daily Wrap Up, WORTH NOTING—Other litigation, regulatory activity and industry news, (Jul 10, 2026)

By WK Editorial Staff

A weekly roundup of items of interest to the securities, derivatives and corporate governance communities.

ENFORCEMENT—The SEC issued a notice stating that there is no inflation adjustment to civil penalty amounts for 2026. The maximum inflation-adjusted civil monetary penalty amounts published in January 2025 (Release No. 33-11350 continue to apply to all civil monetary penalties imposed after January 15, 2025, and will apply to all penalties imposed after that date for violations that occurred after November 2, 2015.

SEC NEWS AND SPEECHES—The SEC announced that Paul Knight has been named as the agency’s chief operating officer (COO). As COO, Knight will oversee the SEC's operational and administrative functions, including the agency's Office of Human Resources; Office of Acquisitions; Office of Financial Management; EDGAR Business Office; Office of the Chief Data Officer; Office of the Chief Risk Officer, and the Office of Support Operations. Knight joins the SEC from JPMorgan Chase, where he most recently worked as the principal lead for driving growth across U.S. lines of business. Prior to his tenure at JPMorgan Chase, Knight served as a senior advisor and business manager at the U.S. Treasury from 2012 to 2014. Knight also previously served at the SEC from 2008 to 2012 in various roles, including as the interim managing executive for the Division of Economic and Risk Analysis.

BLOCKCHAIN—North Carolina has become the first state to formally recognize the federal government’s authority over prediction markets, according to various news reports, including the Washington Examiner. A provision in the state's budget, which was signed into law earlier this week, imposes a 6 percent tax on the net trading revenue of federally regulated prediction market operators. The budget also explicitly acknowledges that companies registered with the CFTC may legally operate in North Carolina under the Commodity Exchange Act.

SEC NEWS AND SPEECHES—The SEC has announced the creation of a Retail Fraud Working Group designed to strengthen the Division of Enforcement’s efforts to identify and combat fraud that targets investors. The working group will leverage staff and resources across the Commission to identify fraud and other misconduct targeting retail investors, including offering frauds, pump-and-dump schemes, market manipulation, and breaches of duties to customers by investment advisers and broker dealers. It also will serve as a dedicated resource for proactive case generation, play an important role in coordinating with the Commission’s regulatory partners and foreign counterparts, and participate in educational outreach to retail investors in coordination with the SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Assistance. The group will be led by the Division of Enforcement’s Kate Zoladz, deputy director, West, and Kim Frederick, assistant director, Asset Management Unit.

SEC NEWS AND SPEECHES—The SECs Small Business Capital Formation Advisory Committee will hold a meeting on Tuesday, July 21, 2026, at 10 a.m. to explore ways to modernize public market access and encourage IPOs and small public company capital formation. The meeting will be open to the public and held at the SEC’s headquarters in Washington, D.C. The discussion also will be streamed live on SEC.gov. The committee will hear from SEC staff in the Division of Corporation Finance, who will provide an overview of recent relevant rulemakings. Members also will hear from Daniel Zinn, general counsel and chief of staff, OTC Markets Group, and Sue Washer, biotechnology consultant and former CEO of Applied Genetic Technologies Corporation, who will share their experiences and views on ways to further support small public company capital formation.

BLOCKCHAIN—Rep. Jamie Raskin, Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, and Rep. Hank Johnson, Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, Artificial Intelligence, and the Internet, this week sent a letter to the Honorable Robert J. Conrad Jr., Director of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, urging the Judicial Conference to prohibit federal judges, clerks, and judicial staff from participating in online prediction markets. “Federal officials in all three branches of government often have advance knowledge of, if not direct influence or control over, the prospective outcome of a wager related to public policy events and decisions. It is no surprise that, in this setting, prediction markets appear rife with insider trading and other abuses,” the letter stated.

MUNICIPAL SECURITIES NEWS—The SEC’s Office of Municipal Securities announced it has updated its Registration of Municipal Advisors FAQs webpage to offer more clarity on municipal advisor registration and recordkeeping requirements. The update also includes a new FAQ on how to register as a municipal advisor, directing those who plan to engage in municipal advisory activities–including sole proprietors–to a preexisting staff Informational Bulletin and MSRB Compliance Resource describing the steps they must take to initially register with the SEC and MSRB.

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