Matched by algorithm, steered by salespeople: SEC penalizes adviser-finder Zoe Financial
People who came to Zoe Financial for help finding an investment adviser answered an online questionnaire, and an algorithm picked their matches.
News: October 1, 2026
The edition for Thursday, October 1, 2026. 59 items. All editions.
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National
A Fed governor's warning rides along with the new stablecoin rules
When the Federal Reserve proposed rules for bank-issued stablecoins, Governor Michael Barr backed the plan but singled out one standard he wants revisited.
Fed proposes reserve and capital rules for bank-issued stablecoins
The Federal Reserve has proposed rules for stablecoins issued through the banks it supervises, carrying out part of the 2025 GENIUS Act. Issuers would have to back each coin fully with approved reserve assets, such as short-term Treasury bills, and meet standardized capital and risk-management requirements. A second proposal sets out how a bank applies to have a subsidiary issue stablecoins. Both were published in the Federal Register on Sept. 29, opening a 60-day comment period that runs to Nov. 28. The law takes effect Jan. 18, 2027, or 120 days after final rules, whichever is sooner.
Fed bars former Maryland teller supervisor after $246,000 theft
The Federal Reserve has barred a former teller supervisor at a Sandy Spring Bank branch in Silver Spring, Md., from working in banking without its approval. The Fed's order says she took about $246,000 from teller cash dispensers between June 2023 and July 2024, was fired in August 2024, and on May 4 was convicted of a theft scheme after pleading guilty, receiving probation and an order of partial restitution. American Banker, citing Maryland court records, reported a 10-year sentence with all but one year suspended. The two accounts have not been reconciled. She consented to the Fed's order.
IPO money quintupled in the first half, mostly on one deal
U.S. issuers raised more than $137 billion through 208 initial public offerings in the first half of 2026, up from 180 IPOs raising about $27 billion a year earlier, the SEC's economists reported. Most of that roughly fivefold jump came from one deal: SpaceX's offering of about $86 billion, according to FTI Consulting. Without it, first-half IPO proceeds would still be nearly double last year's, by TDD's calculation. Follow-on offerings rose to 557, raising more than $111 billion, from 505 raising nearly $84 billion.
SEC: Pension-plan worker's fund scheme took $860,000 from South Florida police
A Port St. Lucie, Fla., man and his company raised about $860,000 from at least 18 investors, many of them current or retired South Florida law enforcement officers, with false claims of outsized trading returns, the SEC alleges. Many trusted Michael D. Williams because he worked for a police and firefighter pension plan administrator, the complaint says. The SEC says he never opened a brokerage account for the funds, sent cropped screenshots of trading profits and spent about $384,000 on personal expenses, including a sports car. He has repaid more than $375,000. The defendants agreed to settle, pending court approval.
BancFirst wins approval to buy SpiritBank after a Tulsa lending objection is heard
The Federal Reserve has approved BancFirst Corp.'s purchase of Spirit BankCorp, adding SpiritBank's six branches in Tulsa, Sapulpa and Bristow to Oklahoma's…
SEC penalizes OTC stock trading operator, its second settlement in two years
The SEC has censured OTC Link LLC, the OTC Markets Group unit that runs a trading system for over-the-counter stocks, and ordered it to pay a $575,000 penalty. The agency found that from August 2016 to March 2025 it failed to establish, maintain and enforce written policies required by Regulation Systems Compliance and Integrity. OTC Link agreed to the censure and a cease-and-desist order without admitting or denying the findings. It is the firm's second SEC settlement in about two years: in August 2024 it agreed to pay $1.19 million after filing no suspicious activity reports from 2020 to 2023.
Fed lifts its 2024 agreement with Oklahoma's Bank of Eufaula
The Federal Reserve has ended its 2024 written agreement with SNB Bancshares and its subsidiary, Bank of Eufaula, both of Eufaula, Okla. The agreement, dated Aug. 7, 2024, was terminated Sept. 3; the Fed's notice does not describe what it required. Earlier this year the Fed took separate actions against two people connected to the bank: a June 18 order barring one from banking and assessing a civil money penalty, and a June 25 cease-and-desist order against the other.
Fed bars three former bank and card-company employees
The Federal Reserve on Sept. 18 barred three former financial-industry employees from banking under consent orders: a former Northstar Bank employee in Bad Axe, Mich., for misappropriating customer funds; a former American Express Travel Related Services employee in New York, for misapplication of funds and conflicts of interest; and a former Regions Bank employee in Birmingham, Ala., for check fraud. Each is barred from working at insured institutions without regulators' approval. Banking regulators routinely issue such bans after misconduct tied to a bank.
What the SEC's "innovation exemption" means for tokenized stocks
The SEC has opened a five-year window for blockchain-based versions of U.S.-listed stocks to trade on new "tokenized securities venues," which may run…
Fed raises rates for the first time since 2023
The Federal Reserve raised its benchmark interest rate a quarter point on Sept. 16, to a range of 3.75% to 4%, its first increase since 2023. The vote was 12-0. In a brief statement, policymakers said the economy is expanding at a solid pace, inflation remains elevated and the increase will support a timelier return to their 2% goal. Projections released the same day showed 16 of 18 officials expecting another increase this year; Chair Warsh did not submit a projection. The Fed's discount rate for bank borrowing rose to 4%.
SEC proposes ending the 1942 rule that lets shareholders put proposals on company ballots
The SEC has proposed eliminating Rule 14a-8, which since 1942 has let qualifying shareholders put their proposals on a company's annual-meeting ballot. The agency says the rule exceeds its authority and intrudes on state law; rescinding it would leave shareholder proposals to state law and company bylaws. The Council of Institutional Investors called the plan "a solution in search of a problem," and other investor groups warned of weaker accountability. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has said activist investors used the rule to push their own agendas. Comments are due Nov. 20.
Regulators rewrite vendor-risk guidance and flag community banks' dependence on core providers
Four federal regulators have proposed replacing their guidance on how banks and credit unions manage outside vendors with principles-based guidance tailored to the risk of each relationship. Comments are due 60 days after Federal Register publication. Separately, the Federal Reserve, FDIC and Comptroller of the Currency issued a statement on community banks' reliance on core service providers, the vendors that run banks' core systems, saying certain provider business practices and market dynamics may make it harder for banks to manage those risks. The Fed also proposed a companion guide for community banks it supervises.
Regulators extend exam cycles for about 188 more community banks
Regulators have made about 188 more community banks eligible to be examined every 18 months instead of every 12. An interim final rule from the Federal Reserve, FDIC and Comptroller of the Currency carries out the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, which doubled the asset limit for the longer cycle from $3 billion to $6 billion. Only well-managed, well-capitalized, low-risk banks qualify, and regulators will keep monitoring them between exams. The Independent Community Bankers of America, which backed it, put the number of eligible institutions at 4,016. The rule took effect on publication, with 30 days for comment.
SEC: New Jersey man's $16 million Ponzi scheme targeted a Ghanaian Christian community
The SEC has charged Ernest Ossei Boateng and two New Jersey companies he controls with running a Ponzi-like scheme that raised about $16 million from more than 200 investors from 2020 to 2026. The complaint says he mainly targeted Christians of Ghanaian heritage in New York and New Jersey, many with no investing experience: retirees, taxi drivers, home health care providers, students, a widow with young children and at least two churches. He promised safe, fixed returns, the SEC says, but spent more than $5.8 million on himself, including his home, and paid earlier investors with later investors' money.
Fed lifts its order on United Texas Bank, but a new regulator's order remains
The Federal Reserve has ended its 2024 cease-and-desist order against United Texas Bank of Dallas, but the bank remains under an order from its new regulator.
SEC proposes scrapping the rule that limits political donations by money managers
The SEC has proposed eliminating its 2010 "pay-to-play" rule, which bars investment advisers from being paid to manage a state or local government's money,…
SEC charges three former Tricolor executives in $1.9 billion subprime auto collapse
The SEC has charged three former executives of Tricolor, a Dallas-area used-car dealer and subprime lender, with defrauding investors as the company raised…
SEC proposes a rulebook for raising money by selling crypto tokens
The SEC has proposed "Regulation Crypto Assets," its first rules written specifically for projects that raise money by selling crypto tokens.
Two SEC cases filed four days apart accuse pre-IPO fund sellers of hidden markups
Two SEC cases filed four days apart describe the same risk in the booming market for shares of private companies before they go public: investors paying far…
Fed bars two former Regions bankers from one Memphis branch over check fraud
The Federal Reserve has barred four former Regions Bank employees from the banking industry in orders announced since July 30.
California
California requires youth football leagues to allow soft helmet covers, a step short of the tackle ban Newsom stopped
Youth tackle football leagues in California must let players wear soft-shell helmet covers under AB 708, which Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Monday.
Newsom orders a public report on the wholesale fuel trades behind California prices
A small number of wholesale trades can influence the price of far more gasoline and diesel sold in California, Gov. Gavin Newsom wrote Monday, and private price assessors such as OPIS rely on trades companies choose to report. The state receives a fuller account under its fuel-market transparency laws, he noted. His letter directs the California Energy Commission, with air regulators and the Division of Petroleum Market Oversight, to publish a regular public spot-market report built from aggregated, anonymized trading data. It also asks the commission to consider reporting renewable diesel prices separately. The letter sets no publication date.
California lets winter gas in early as prices near record
Cheaper-to-make winter-blend gasoline can now be sold in California, weeks before the Oct. 31 switch that normally applies in most of the state. Gov. Gavin Newsom suspended the summer-blend requirement Monday, citing a state law that allows it when prices spike. Regular averaged $6.365 a gallon statewide Monday, AAA reported, about 7 cents below the June 2022 record. Newsom blamed the Iran war and acknowledged the summer rules protect air quality; he told air regulators to report on pollution impacts before his January budget. He also ordered public reporting of wholesale spot prices. How much pump prices fall is unknown.
Disabled veterans get a bigger property tax break; San Diego leads the state in veterans' exemptions
California will expand property tax relief for 100% disabled veterans under SB 296, one of five veterans bills Gov. Gavin Newsom announced signing Monday. In its final legislative form as reported, qualifying veterans with household income of $83,474 or less would owe no property tax on the first $1 million of their home's taxable value; others would get half off that amount, with both figures indexed to inflation. San Diego County had 17,778 disabled veterans' exemptions in 2025, the most of any California county, according to the state Board of Equalization. Revenue estimates this desk found predate the final version.
California bets on a "not ultra-processed" seal as Congress weighs warning labels
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday signed AB 2244, creating a voluntary state seal, "Non-Ultraprocessed Certified," for foods that fall outside California's legal…
Newsom vetoes fire survivors' insurance claim bills
Gov. Gavin Newsom has vetoed two bills written after the 2025 Eaton and Palisades fires to change how home insurers handle claims. SB 877 would have required insurers to show policyholders their original loss estimates and any revisions; SB 878 would have required faster written decisions and interest on late payments. Both passed with lopsided bipartisan votes. In a single veto message, Newsom wrote that the bills would codify existing Department of Insurance regulations and guidance. Author Sen. Sasha Renée Pérez said she was deeply disappointed. Survivor advocates dispute that current rules address delays and underpayments.
Law born of Boyle Heights warehouse fire will raise fines on large buildings statewide from 2028
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Sunday signed two bills responding to the June 17 fire at a nearly 500,000-square-foot Lineage cold-storage warehouse in the Boyle…
California bars public officials from issuing meme coins
California public officials will be barred from issuing their own meme coins under AB 2409, one of 11 corruption, consumer and crypto-fraud bills Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Sunday. Meme coins are cryptocurrencies built on jokes, celebrities or trends, with prices driven by hype. The law also bars platforms from offering California residents coins that use an official's likeness. It takes effect Jan. 1, 2027, and is enforced through civil action. It passed both houses without a no vote. The governor's office framed it as a contrast with President Trump's own meme coin.
Newsom's reproductive-health package passed on divided votes, and his office framed it against Trump
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed nine reproductive-health bills Sunday, one of several themed packages he announced that weekend, including 10 gun bills Saturday,…
San Diego lawmaker's bill for discharged transgender troops among six LGBTQ bills signed
A bill by San Diego Assemblymember Chris Ward to help servicemembers discharged under the federal ban on transgender troops is among six LGBTQ Caucus priority bills Gov. Gavin Newsom signed. AB 1775 offers housing, employment and transition-to-civilian-life support. Other bills limit sharing of sexual-orientation and gender-identity data, require providers to notify the attorney general when subpoenaed about protected care, update the state's conversion-therapy ban after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down another state's, and widen access to HIV-prevention drugs. The governor's office framed the package as a response to the Trump administration.
California schools will send parents a new notice on storing guns at home
Sept. 26, 2026 — California schools will give parents a "Secure Firearm Storage Notification" under AB 1943, one of 10 gun bills Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Saturday in Sacramento. The state Department of Education will write the notice, which replaces model safe-storage language schools have shared since 2023 and describes the risks of children reaching unsecured guns and the state's child-access laws. The bill passed the Assembly 71-0. It was part of a legislative package backed by Everytown for Gun Safety, Giffords and Brady. An Assembly analysis, citing Everytown, put the average number of California children and teens who die by guns each year at 264.
Juvenile judges must weigh loaded-gun charges before offering a path to dismissal
California juvenile judges deciding whether a young person is suitable for "deferred entry of judgment" must now consider whether the charge is possession…
California creates an office for its gun-violence grants, funded by a tax on gun sales
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Saturday signed AB 2378 in Sacramento, creating an Office of Community Violence Intervention to run a grant program the state has…
California adds a 10-year gun ban for a misdemeanor serial-number offense
Californians convicted of a misdemeanor involving guns with altered or removed identifying marks will lose the right to own firearms for 10 years under SB…
California's 3D-printer gun-blocking law waits for proof the technology works
A law Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Saturday in Sacramento will require 3D printers sold in California to block attempts to print guns, but only after the…
California adds a four-hour gun course and targets 3D-printed guns
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Saturday signed 10 gun bills, which CalMatters describes as his last gun-control measures as governor. One requires people seeking California's firearm safety certificate to complete a course of at least four hours, including live fire, starting in 2029. Another requires consumer 3D printers sold in the state to block attempts to print guns. A third adds a 10-year gun ban for a misdemeanor involving guns with altered serial numbers. Gun-safety groups praised the package. The California Rifle and Pistol Association called the mandatory course a possible infringement on Second Amendment rights.
San Diego
San Diego County makes its interim health and human services chief permanent
San Diego County has named Elizabeth Hernandez, Ph.D., to lead its Health and Human Services Agency after a national search that drew more than 200 applicants. Hernandez, the agency's interim leader since October 2025, takes the permanent post Oct. 2. She joined the county in 2016 and became director of Public Health Services in 2021. The agency serves about one in three county residents, running benefits enrollment such as Medi-Cal and CalFresh, public health, housing, child and family services, and aging programs.
A million San Diegans learned CPR. Did more people survive?
San Diego County and UC San Diego say more than 1 million people have now learned hands-only CPR, meeting a goal set in early 2024. The Revive & Survive campaign counted 1,011,034 trainees at 25,138 free events run by 49 partners. The harder number is survival. In county registry data for 2019 through 2023, about 9% of people whose hearts stopped outside a hospital survived, and about half received bystander CPR. Officials say nearly half got bystander CPR last year. Whether the training has raised survival has not yet been reported.
Second raw-milk cheese outbreak this year reaches San Diego, sickening two young children
San Diego County public health officials say two children under 5 in the county are among 13 people sickened in a multistate E. coli outbreak linked to…
La Mesa's trolley-lot homes break ground as Oktoberfest riders are sent to other lots
Construction began Friday on Spring View Apartments at the Spring Street trolley station in La Mesa, and the homes will go to the people the project…
County Administration Center renovation wins national preservation award
The rehabilitation of the San Diego County Administration Center has won a Richard H. Driehaus Foundation National Preservation Award, one of six honors for the project, the County said. The National Trust for Historic Preservation, which presents the awards, said that in 2019 aging systems and seismic limitations threatened both public operations and the historic fabric of the 315,000-square-foot waterfront building, which dates to 1938. The renovation restored historic materials and finishes while modernizing the building's systems. The County's announcement did not give the project's cost.
Voter pamphlets head to 2 million San Diego County voters; ballots follow Oct. 5
The San Diego County Registrar of Voters is mailing voter information pamphlets to more than 2 million registered voters for the Nov. 3 gubernatorial general election. Each pamphlet includes a sample ballot and lists vote centers and drop boxes. Ballots go out Oct. 5, when early voting also begins at the Registrar's office in Kearny Mesa; official drop boxes open Oct. 6. Oct. 19 is the deadline to register and still receive a ballot by mail. After that, voters can register and cast a ballot the same day at the Registrar's office or a vote center through Election Day.
First North County EMS Corps class graduates 18
Eighteen young adults have graduated from San Diego County Fire's first North County Emergency Medical Services Corps class, following two earlier graduating classes at Southwestern College in February and June. The 20-week program at Palomar College trains people ages 18 to 26 to become emergency medical technicians and earn a California EMT card, with up to 12 college credits, hands-on scenarios and support from case managers and mentors. The San Diego Workforce Partnership helped fund the North County expansion. Applications are closed for now but will reopen soon; applicants must live in California and meet the program's background requirements.
The day California opened an El Niño emergency, it closed 34 old ones, including San Diego's
Sept. 21, 2026 — On the day Gov. Gavin Newsom proclaimed a statewide emergency to prepare for El Niño, he also closed 34 older ones, at least four of them covering San Diego County: storms in early 2023, Tropical Storm Hilary in August 2023, and storms in January and February 2024. The new proclamation directs state agencies to stage sandbags and pumps, prepares the California National Guard for flood response and search and rescue, and speeds permitting for flood, landslide and debris-flow work. Closing old emergencies is routine; the governor ended 18 in March and 22 in July 2024. A termination ends any executive-order provisions tied to those emergencies.
San Diego County opens El Niño hub as NOAA forecasts a possibly record event
San Diego County has opened an El Niño information hub on Alert San Diego, pointing residents to emergency alerts, sandbag locations, neighborhood hazard…
Falls sent nearly 40,000 older San Diegans to the ER in 2024
Falls were the leading cause of emergency department visits for San Diego County residents 60 and older in 2024, County data show: nearly 40,000 visits, more than 13,000 hospitalizations and 338 deaths. During Fall Prevention Awareness Week, the County's Aging & Independence Services urged older adults and caregivers to check their fall risks, noting that fear of falling again can lead people to limit activity, which can bring physical decline, depression and isolation. Since at least March, the County has also offered free fall-prevention kits to qualifying residents 60 and older or with disabilities.
The gauges behind San Diego County's flood warnings
San Diego County's flood warnings start at a Weather Center in Kearny Mesa run by the County Flood Control District.
Science and Technology
A thyroid compound once barred as a diet supplement returns as an approved rare-disease drug
The FDA on Monday approved tiratricol, sold as Emcitate by Sweden's Egetis Therapeutics, for MCT8 deficiency, a genetic disorder estimated to affect about 1…
FDA opens door to rewriting its vape and pouch approval rules
The FDA said Monday it will consider replacing the 2021 rule that governs how new e-cigarettes, nicotine pouches and other tobacco products win permission to be sold, citing an illicit market and a federal lawsuit. That suit, filed Sept. 2 in Texas by Altria's vaping and pouch subsidiaries and a retailers' group, argues the rule keeps the agency from meeting Congress's 180-day review deadline. Reynolds units have asked to join. The FDA said it will keep reviewing applications meanwhile, and that any change will come with public input. It set no timeline.
What shoppers at 54 Midwest locations should know about the Gold Star recall
Shelf-stable products from Gold Star Distribution's Minneapolis warehouse went to 54 stores, restaurants and other locations, all but two in Minnesota, with…
A decade of rodent findings came before a court shut a Minneapolis warehouse
State and federal inspectors documented rodent problems at Gold Star Distribution's Minneapolis warehouse for more than a decade before a federal court…
FDA rewrites its rules so drug safety testing no longer defaults to animals
The FDA has updated its drug regulations to make clear that developers may use non-animal methods, such as tests on human cells, organs-on-chips and computer models, where appropriate to show a drug or biologic is safe before human trials. The direct final rule, announced Sept. 21, replaces "animal tests" with "nonclinical tests" throughout the rules. It does not ban animal studies, change evidence standards or add costs, the agency said. The FDA also launched a database of 25 examples. Comments are open until Dec. 7; unless significant objections arrive, the rule takes effect Feb. 4, 2027.
First treatment approved for Sanfilippo syndrome, a fatal childhood disease
The FDA on Sept. 17 approved Fayuvi, from Ultragenyx, as the first treatment for Sanfilippo syndrome type A, a rare, fatal inherited disease that erodes children's learning, speech and movement. The one-time infusion uses a modified virus to deliver a working copy of the gene the children lack. It is approved for children whose development is still largely preserved. In the main study, 17 treated children were compared with 27 untreated children from a natural-history group; treated children scored higher on developmental tests. The company expects to ship to treatment centers within 30 to 60 days. No price was announced.
FDA pilot aims to speed the first human tests of new drugs
The FDA has opened applications for a pilot program meant to speed first-in-human drug trials in the United States, which the agency says can take up to two…
Why premature babies' first IV nutrition is at risk, and what the FDA is doing
The FDA has temporarily eased compounding rules after children's hospitals warned they could lose access to starter IV nutrition, the premixed dextrose,…
FDA approves a blood-test-guided switch for a common advanced breast cancer
The FDA on Sept. 4 granted accelerated approval to AstraZeneca's Etcamah (camizestrant), taken with a CDK4/6 inhibitor, for adults with advanced hormone receptor-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer whose tumors develop an ESR1 mutation during standard hormone therapy. The mutation signals growing resistance and is found with an FDA-authorized blood test, so doctors can switch treatment when it appears. In the main trial, switching extended median progression-free survival to 16 months from 9.2 months for those who stayed on standard therapy. The FDA says nearly 40% of patients have the mutation after their disease progresses on an aromatase inhibitor.
FDA approves a first-of-its-kind pill that nearly doubled median survival in an advanced pancreatic cancer trial
The FDA has approved Rasonque (daraxonrasib), a daily pill from Redwood City, Calif.-based Revolution Medicines, for adults whose pancreatic adenocarcinoma…