sec rules

Will Added Investors Force a Facebook IPO in 2012?

Facebook expects its investor base will exceed 500 this year, a level at which the SEC will require it to disclose its financial results to the public. That may be enough to push the social networking giant into an IPO in 2012 -- but founder Mark Zuckerberg could opt to release that data and keep Facebook private anyway.

SEC: No More 'Naked' Access to Stock Market for Traders

Traders will no longer be able to make direct trades without broker supervision. As part of a series of changes after May's "flash crash," the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission decided Wednesday to bar traders from having "naked" access to stock markets.