Minutes - February 13, 2020

A meeting of the State Securities Board was held on February 6, 2020, in Room 320, Thomas Jefferson Rusk State Office Building, at 10:00 a.m. Those present were: E. Wally Kinney, Chair; Miguel Romano, Jr., Member; Kenny Koncaba, Member; Robert Belt, Member; Melissa Tyroch, Member; Travis J. Iles, Securities Commissioner; Clinton Edgar, Deputy Commissioner; Tommy Green, Director, Inspections and Compliance Division; Joseph J. Rotunda, Director, Enforcement Division; Marlene K. Sparkman, General Counsel; Tina Lawrence, Assistant Director, Enforcement Division; Emily Diaz, Assistant Director, Registration Division; Shaun Yarroll, Assistant Director, Registration Division; Cheryn Netz, Assistant General Counsel; Misty Smith, Assistant Director, Staff Services Division; Betsy Hodges, Assistant Director, Inspections and Compliance Division; Robert Elder, Communications and Investor Education; and Sonia Fergerson, Executive Assistant.   Also attending was Christopher Smith.

Chair Kinney called the meeting to order at 10:02 a.m.

Minutes of the October 22, 2019, meeting were approved.

The Board voted to adopt the following published rule proposals:

1.  New §127.4, concerning prosecutorial assistance.

2.  New Chapter 102. Complaint Process.

§102.1. Policy.

§102.2. Definitions.

§102.3. Filing Complaints.

§102.4. Processing of Complaints.

§102.5. Prioritization of Complaint Investigations.

§102.6. Complaint Resolution.

3.  New §127.2, concerning alternative dispute resolution.

4.  New §115.23, concerning cybersecurity breach notification.

5.  New §116.23, concerning cybersecurity breach notification.

The Board voted to publish for public comment the following new rule proposal:

1.  Amending §109.7(e), concerning secondary trading exemption under the Texas Securities Act, Section 5.O, to remove the S&P Capital IQ Standard Corporation Descriptions from the list of recognized manuals.

After review, the Board voted to re-adopt Chapter 133, Forms.

The Board acknowledged and accepted a grant from the Investor Protection Trust for $8,334 for partial funding the first season of the Friends Talk Money Podcast.

Upon the recommendation of the Audit Committee, the Board voted to retain Garza/Gonzales & Associates as the internal auditor for FY 2020 and to increase the not-to-exceed contract fee amount to $31, 250.

The Commissioner gave a report on the Agency’s budget and performance measures.

The Commissioner gave a general update on Agency operations.

The meeting was then adjourned at 11:43 a.m.