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The new Republican leader of the Securities and Exchange Commission has imposed fresh curbs on the agency’s enforcement staff, scaling back their powers to initiate investigations of alleged financial misdeeds, the Wall Street Journal reported today. The move by Michael Piwowar — named acting head of the agency in late January by the Trump administration — narrows actions launched during the Obama administration designed to make it easier for the Wall Street regulator to launch probes in the wake of the financial crisis and a series of colossal investment scandals. The SEC last year pursued a record number of enforcement cases, drawing criticism from Republicans who said that the agency was overly aggressive in seeking ever-higher corporate penalties. The SEC didn't announce Piwowar’s action, which revokes subpoena authority from about 20 senior enforcement officials and limits it to the enforcement division director. Piwowar’s goal wasn't necessarily to reduce the number of enforcement cases pursued by the SEC, according to sources, but was aimed at bringing consistency to a process he felt could be driven by differing standards and wasn’t subject to ample commission oversight.

Litigation could stymie efforts by the Securities and Exchange Commission to comply with sweeping executive orders intended to roll back financial regulations, the Wall Street Journal reported today. President Donald Trump on Friday took the first step in expunging the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial overhaul act, which he said hinders business and economic growth. Trump signed an executive action requiring the U.S. Treasury Department to develop an outline for scaling back financial regulations. The SEC doesn’t have the authority to revoke Dodd-Frank, which is an act of Congress. Nearly 80 percent of rules under the law are already implemented. Instead, the commission can offer relief by amending its rules, or granting exemptions — a process that is open to judicial review. Any legal objections could slow the SEC’s already lengthy amendment process, hindering the agency’s ability to execute the president’s executive order, legal experts and former SEC staff said.

The Securities and Exchange Commission will reconsider a recently imposed rule requiring corporations to disclose how much their CEOs make relative to workers, the acting chairman announced yesterday, the Washington Examiner reported. Michael Piwowar, the acting commissioner while President Trump's nominee is considered, said that the SEC was seeking input from corporations about difficulties with the disclosures, a first step toward changing the rule that is disliked by companies and Republicans. Following the departure of Mary Jo White, the Obama-appointed chairwoman, the commission doesn't have the numbers needed to go through an actual rule-making to change the rule. But it can lay the groundwork for when Jay Clayton, Trump's pick for chairman, is installed. The rule took effect this year, and Piwowar, a Republican, requested comments on the rule from companies within 45 days. He has directed SEC staff to "reconsider the implementation of the rule" in light of those comments.

Citigroup Inc. will pay $18.3 million to settle a U.S. regulator’s claims that a subsidiary overcharged at least 60,000 advisory clients by billing them at rates higher than what they were promised, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. Citigroup Global Markets imposed about $18 million in unauthorized fees after failing to confirm the accuracy of rates entered into its computer systems, the Securities and Exchange Commission said yesterday. The firm also misplaced contracts for 83,000 accounts opened from 1990 to 2012, the agency said. “Without those missing advisory contracts, Citigroup could not properly validate whether the fee rates negotiated by clients when accounts were opened were the same advisory fee rates being billed to clients over the years,” the SEC said. “It is estimated that Citigroup received approximately $3.2 million in excess fees from advisory clients whose contracts were lost.”

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said yesterday that it charged shipping conglomerate Overseas Shipholding Group and its former chief financial officer Myles Itkin with failing to recognize some $512 million in tax liabilities, Reuters reported. OSG, which filed for bankruptcy protection in 2012 after the discovery of the tax liabilities, has agreed to pay a $5 million penalty subject to bankruptcy court approval, and Itkin agreed to pay a $75,000 penalty, the SEC said.

The Securities and Exchange Commission recently announced its Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations’ (OCIE) 2017 examination priorities, and public pension advisers will be in the crosshairs, Forbes reported on Friday. With approximately 450 examiners, accountants and lawyers located throughout 12 SEC offices, OCIE conducts examinations of asset managers to determine their compliance with the federal securities laws. It is responsible for monitoring over 10,000 investment advisers with more than $48 trillion of assets under management. The results of OCIE’s examinations are utilized by the Commission to inform rule-making initiatives, to identify and monitor risks, to improve industry practices and to pursue misconduct.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)said that Morgan Stanley will pay $13 million to settle civil charges, after it overbilled some of its wealth management clients because of coding and other billing system errors, Reuters reported on Friday. The SEC said that the bank was also charged with violating custody rules designed to safeguard investor assets. The bank agreed to settle the case without admitting or denying the charges. The SEC said that the billing errors at Morgan Stanley affected more than 149,000 clients. Between 2002 and 2016, the bank received more than $16 million in excess fees as a result of the errors.