The nature and extent of ethics-oriented federal regulation of the securities industry is in the process of profound change. This course is an overview of the most significant regulatory developments from 2003 to date. We begin with three far-reaching pronouncements of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), involving self-regulatory organizations (SROs) and registered adviser ethics. That material is examined most thoroughly, since it offers direct insight into the securities regulator's mindset. (SROs include the national securities exchanges and registered securities associations.

We next consider rules mandated by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 ("SOX" Act) addressing investment analyst conflicts of interest. Finally, we present the amendments to FINRA Rule 2830, which prohibits favoring the sale of any particular investment company's shares on the basis of brokerage commissions received or expected (the "Anti-Reciprocal Rule").