Securities Regulation Daily Wrap Up, WORTH NOTING—Other litigation, regulatory activity and industry news, (Aug 21, 2026)

By WK Editorial Staff

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

FRAUD AND MANIPULATION—The U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey dismissed with prejudice, and without settlement, Counts I and II brought against Arthur Dembro in CFTC v. WorldWideMarkets, Ltd., No. 2:21-cv-2071 (D.N.J. Dec. 31, 2025). Counts I and II of the complaint alleged that WorldWideMarkets, Ltd. (WWM), TAB Networks, Inc., Thomas Plaut, and Dembro engaged in a Ponzi-like scheme to defraud WWM’s retail foreign exchange customers by misappropriating over $4 million in WWM customer funds and misrepresenting to WWM customers that their funds would be held in segregated accounts. The CFTC had moved to dismiss with prejudice Counts I and II against Dembro, and the court issued the order of dismissal on July 15. Dembro agreed to waive any and all claims he may possess under the Equal Access to Justice Act, and/or the rules promulgated by the CFTC in conformity therewith, and any and all claims he may possess under the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996, relating to, or arising from, the action.

EXCHANGES AND MARKET REGULATION–The SEC has sustained the Nasdaq Stock Market LLC’s action to suspend trading in, and then delisti, Shineco Inc.’s common stock, stating the record supports Nasdaq’s determination. It dismissed Shineco’s application for review.

EXCHANGES AND MARKET REGULATION–FIA.org reported worldwide volume of exchange-traded derivatives reached 12.94 billion contracts in July, a decrease of 3.1 percent from June 2026 but an increase of 27.7 percent from July 2025. Options growth rose. Global trading of options reached 9.76 billion contracts in July, up by more than 31 percent from last year, with most of that growth taking place in the Asia-Pacific region. Global trading of futures reached 3.18 billion contracts in July, up 18.4 percent from the same month last year. On a year-to-date basis, volume through the first seven months of the year was 88.58 billion contracts, up 36.4 percent from the first seven months of 2025. The majority of the volume increase came from equity contracts.

SECURITIES OFFERINGS—The SEC announced that effective October 1, 2026, the Securities Act Section 6(b) fee rate that issuers pay to register their securities will be $87.00 per million dollars, a decrease from the FY2026 rate of $138.10 per million dollars. The annual rate adjustment also sets the Exchange Act Section 13(e) fee for the repurchase of securities, and the Exchange Act Section 14(g) fees for proxy solicitations and statements in corporate control transactions. The Securities Act Section 6(b) fee rate is also the rate used to calculate the fees payable under Section 24(f)(2) of the Investment Company Act of 1940. The target fee collection amount for 2027 is $919,148,792.

IndustryNews: CFTCNews FraudManipulation NewJerseyNews ExchangesMarketRegulation