SEC’s Former Top Lawyer Says He Had No Conflict in Madoff Case

Former U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission general counsel David Becker said he didn’t violate the law when he worked on agency policy about the Bernard Madoff case after inheriting money from the Ponzi scheme.

Becker, who stepped down in February, made the statement in remarks prepared for a U.S. House hearing today. He is testifying along with SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro and H. David Kotz, the inspector general who earlier this week released a 119-page report calling for Becker’s conduct to be reviewed by federal prosecutors.

‘Massive’ ETF Insider Trading, Google Ad Rates, UBS Board: Compliance

A former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) trader and his father were accused by U.S. regulators of making illegal trades based on confidential information related to the Wall Street firm’s exchange-traded fund investments.

Spencer Mindlin, 33, and Alfred Mindlin, 68, reaped at least $57,000 in illicit profits by trading in December 2007 and March 2008 “with knowledge of massive, market-moving trades” that Goldman Sachs​ planned to execute in four securities, the Securities and Exchange Commission said yesterday in a statement. The claims were outlined in an administrative proceeding filed by the SEC’s enforcement unit.

Safdie’s $413 Million Glass Tent, Big Onions Thrill Kansas City

The exterior of the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts in Kansas City. Designed by Boston architect Moshe Safdie, of Safdie Architects, the $413-million center opened Sept. 16, 2011.

The new Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts faces downtown Kansas City, Missouri, with two bulging stainless-steel onions, sliced vertically. They cover a city block.

I liked them immediately. Their primal volumes glint in the sharp sunlight as evocatively as the paint-peeling grain silos that line nearby railroad lines.

The onions are the back of the building.

ABS Conflicts, Investment Advisors, UBS-Swiss Risk: Compliance

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission proposed barring bets against asset-backed securities by underwriters and securitization participants to root out conflicts of interest that might harm investors.

SEC commissioners voted 4-0 yesterday to seek comment on a rule, required by the Dodd-Frank Act, that would restrict those who package or sponsor asset-backed securities from engaging in deals that put their interests in conflict with buyers for a year after the first closing of a sale.

Poker-Playing ‘Apprentice’ Duke Tests Appetite for New League

Annie Duke, the poker player who reached the finale of 2009’s “Celebrity Apprentice,” says Texas hold ‘em pros are embracing her new league for the game’s elite. She’ll soon find out if TV viewers feel the same.

Telecasts of “Epic Poker League,” which restricts its main tournaments to qualifiers, premiere Sept. 30 on Discovery Communications Inc. (DISCA)’s Velocity network and Oct. 8 on CBS Corp. (CBS)’s namesake channel, according to Duke, the Epic league’s commissioner and co-founder of parent Federated Sports & Gaming Inc. in Los Angeles. A focus on top professionals will distinguish it from rivals, she said.

“Every other sport, even snowboarding and skateboarding, had a format where the best players in the world could play against the each other,” Duke, 46, said last week in an interview. “There’s a lot of value to limiting your field, both for the player experience and for the fan experience.”

Jefferies-Nasdaq, Colorado Plan, Hynix, Primary Global, SAP in Court News

Jefferies Group Inc. (JEF) sued International Derivatives Clearing Group LLC, accusing the Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. unit of fraud and breach of contract in connection with interest-rate swap futures contracts.

Jefferies & Co., the investment bank that has been expanding since the financial crisis, claimed in the suit that IDCG and its International Derivatives Clearinghouse unit induced it to enter into the contracts by saying the investment would be “economically equivalent” to transactions in similar instruments in the over-the-counter market. The suit was filed Sept. 16 in New York state court.

Dealers Add Treasuries in Biggest Buying Spree Since ‘07

The Fed holds $1.66 trillion of Treasuries, including $520 billion of debt due in 2014 and sooner.

Wall Street’s biggest bond traders are stockpiling Treasuries at the fastest pace since 2007 on speculation the Federal Reserve will announce a plan this week to buy longer-term debt to spur the faltering economy.

The 20 primary dealers held $15.1 billion of Treasury securities due in more than one year as of Sept. 7, up from a $75 billion bet against the debt on May 6, Fed data show. The last time dealers bought bonds at such a rapid pace was between July 2007 and September 2007, as losses on subprime mortgages began to infect credit markets and the central bank unexpectedly cut interest rates.

All but one firm expects the central bank to announce some type of what traders call Operation Twist, according to a Bloomberg News survey, the latest step by the Fed in its four- year effort to keep the economy out of a recession. U.S. debt due in 10 years or more has returned 17 percent this quarter, the most since the last three months of 2008, as unemployment holds above 9 percent and growth slows.