In a speech on October 24, 2023, the director of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC’s) Enforcement Division, Gurbir Grewal, described the scenarios in which the commission would bring an enforcement action against...more
In 2022, we saw steep drops in the U.S. stock market, comparable to the bursting of the dot-com bubble of 2000-01 and the crash set off by the global financial crisis of 2007-09. Additionally, cryptocurrency markets have lost...more
12/15/2022
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corporate Governance ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Economic Downturn ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Popular ,
Recessions ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Stock Markets
On November 15, 2022, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (the SEC’s or Commission’s) Division of Enforcement (the Division) released its annual enforcement results discussing enforcement-related actions and key...more
Key Points and Practical Advice In February 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that the China Initiative, launched in November 2018 to counter perceived threats to U.S. national security from China, was...more
Key Points On May 18, 2022, in Jarkesy v. SEC, No. 20-61007 (5th Cir. May 18, 2022), a split panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit identified three independent constitutional flaws in the administrative...more
On August 30, 2021, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that eight broker-dealers and/or investment advisers will pay civil monetary penalties to resolve enforcement actions arising from cybersecurity...more
9/3/2021
/ Broker-Dealer ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Privacy ,
Data Protection ,
Data Security ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Investment Adviser ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
Regulation S-P ,
Safeguards Rule ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
SolarWinds
Recently, many of our clients have received similar requests from the staff of the SEC's Division of Enforcement related to the December 2020 SolarWinds cyberattack. We confirmed with the SEC staff that the request is...more
6/23/2021
/ Amnesty ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Security ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Insider Trading ,
Internal Controls ,
Regulation FD ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Violations ,
SolarWinds
The Biden administration is widely expected to be tougher on corporate wrongdoing than its predecessor. Although there have not yet been significant changes to existing policies, key nominations to date and early enforcement...more
4/30/2021
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
Biden Administration ,
CARES Act ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
FinCEN ,
Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
White Collar Crimes
The U.S. Supreme Court held on June 22, 2020, in Liu v. SEC, No. 18-1501 (2020), that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC or Commission) may seek a disgorgement award in a civil action in federal court that does not...more
6/25/2020
/ 15 U.S.C. § 78u(d)(5) ,
Administrative Authority ,
Business Expenses ,
Calculation of Damages ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Disgorgement ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Equitable Relief ,
Kokesh v SEC ,
Lack of Authority ,
Liu v Securities and Exchange Commission ,
Net Profits ,
Remedies ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
Despite political and economic uncertainties, markets and deal activity were resilient in 2019, and strong fundamentals remain in place heading into 2020. Companies continue to face a challenging litigation and enforcement...more
1/30/2020
/ Acquisitions ,
Administrative Procedure Act ,
Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Anti-Harassment Policies ,
Anti-Kickback Statute ,
Antitrust Investigations ,
Appeals ,
Arbitration Awards ,
Attorney General ,
Backstop Agreements ,
BEPS ,
BitLicense ,
Blockchain ,
Board of Directors ,
Bonds ,
Capital Markets ,
CFIUS ,
CFTC ,
Chapter 11 ,
Claim Preclusion ,
Class Action ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Common Stock ,
Congressional Investigations & Hearings ,
Congressional Subpoenas ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Cooperation Agreement ,
Copyright ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Restructuring ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Corporate Taxes ,
Corwin Doctrine ,
Covenant Lite Deals ,
Creditors ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
DACA ,
DE Supreme Court ,
Debt Financing ,
Debtors ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Dischargeable Debts ,
Disgorgement ,
Disparate Impact ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Down Rounds ,
Drug Pricing ,
EBITDA ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Enforcement of Foreign Judgments ,
Enterprise Act 2002 ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
Fair Housing Act (FHA) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FinTech ,
FIRRMA ,
Foreign Acquisitions ,
Foreign Investment ,
Foreign Issuers ,
FRCP 23 ,
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) ,
General Elections ,
GILTI tax ,
High-Yield Markets ,
Hong Kong ,
Hong Kong Stock Exchange ,
Individual Accountability ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Intellectual Property Litigation ,
Intercreditor Agreements ,
International Arbitration ,
International Litigation ,
IRS ,
Issue Preclusion ,
Japan ,
Joint Venture ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Life Sciences ,
Listing Rules ,
Litigation Strategies ,
Make-Whole Premium ,
Mergers ,
MFW ,
Multinationals ,
National Security ,
PCAOB ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Political Parties ,
Preferred Shares ,
Private Offerings ,
Privately Held Corporations ,
Proxy Advisory Firms ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Refinancing ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Reporting Requirements ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Litigation ,
Separation of Powers ,
Shareholder Activism ,
Shareholder Proposals ,
Shareholders ,
Split of Authority ,
State Labor Laws ,
Stock Drop Litigation ,
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act ,
Tax Litigation ,
Technology Sector ,
Third-Party Release Agrements ,
Transparency ,
UK ,
UK Brexit ,
Valuation ,
White Collar Crimes
As Chairman Jay Clayton’s tenure at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) likely enters its final year — regardless of the outcome of the next presidential election — the SEC remains focused on priorities such as...more
1/24/2020
/ Accredited Investors ,
Administrative Departments ,
AFL-CIO ,
Auditor Independence ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Capital Markets ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Disgorgement ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Institutional Investors ,
Kokesh v SEC ,
Liu v Securities and Exchange Commission ,
Modernization ,
PCAOB ,
Private Investment Funds ,
Proxy Advisory Firms ,
Proxy Voting ,
Regulation Best Interest ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
SEC Examination Priorities ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Share Class Selection Disclosure Initiative (SCSD) ,
Shareholder Proposals ,
Statute of Limitations ,
Testing-the-Waters Communications
This issue of Skadden’s semiannual Cross-Border Investigations Update takes a close look at recent cases, regulatory activity and other key developments, including a review of the first year of GDPR enforcement, analysis of...more
10/3/2019
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Appeals ,
Blocking Statutes ,
Bribery ,
CFTC ,
China ,
CLOUD Act ,
Communication Restrictions ,
Compliance ,
Conspiracies ,
Cooperation Agreement ,
Crime (Overseas Production Orders) Act 2019 (the COPO Act) ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Cybersecurity ,
Deferred Prosecution Agreements ,
Denial of Certiorari ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Disclosure ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
EU ,
EURIBOR ,
Exports ,
Extradition ,
Extraterritoriality Rules ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Records ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Foreign Exchanges ,
France ,
Fraud ,
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) ,
Government Investigations ,
Hackers ,
Hungary ,
Imports ,
India ,
Indictments ,
Information Sharing ,
Iran Sanctions ,
Israel ,
Lithuania ,
Money Laundering ,
Morrison v National Australia Bank ,
Multinationals ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Opioid ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Popular ,
Rate-Rigging ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Serious Fraud Office (SFO) ,
Spoofing ,
Subpoenas ,
Swiss Supreme Court ,
Switzerland ,
Tax Crimes ,
Tax Evasion ,
Tax Treaty ,
Turkey ,
UK ,
United States ,
Venezuela ,
Wal-Mart
The U.S. Supreme Court held today in Lorenzo v. SEC, No. 17-1077 (2019), that dissemination of false or misleading statements with an intent to defraud can fall within the scope of Rules 10b-5(a) and (c) of the Securities...more
3/28/2019
/ Appeals ,
Enforcement Actions ,
False Statements ,
Fines ,
Intent to Defraud ,
Investment Banks ,
Lorenzo v SEC ,
Material Dissemination ,
Misleading Statements ,
Reaffirmation ,
Rule 10b-5 ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Securities Violations ,
Suspensions
As the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) enters the third year of the Trump administration, its regulatory and enforcement goals remain largely unchanged. At the direction of Chairman Jay Clayton, the SEC continues to...more
1/21/2019
/ Corporate Misconduct ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Cybersecurity ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Institutions ,
Glass Lewis ,
Individual Accountability ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) ,
Investor Protection ,
Popular ,
Proxy Voting ,
Remedies ,
Retail Investors ,
Risk Management ,
SEC Examination Priorities ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Trump Administration
This issue of Skadden’s semiannual Cross-Border Investigations Update takes a close look at recent cases, regulatory activity and other key developments, including DOJ guidance on the use of corporate monitors in criminal...more
1/7/2019
/ Anti-Bribery ,
Anti-Corruption ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Appeals ,
Attorney-Client Privilege ,
Brazil ,
Bribery ,
BSA/AML ,
China ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Criminal Conspiracy ,
Criminal Convictions ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Cross-Border ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Privacy ,
Data Protection Acts ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
EU ,
Exports ,
Extraterritoriality Rules ,
FATCA ,
Financial Crimes ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Forex ,
France ,
Government Investigations ,
Guilty Pleas ,
Hackers ,
Imports ,
International Litigation ,
Iran ,
Legal Professional Privilege ,
Libor ,
Litigation Privilege ,
Market Manipulation ,
Money Laundering ,
Multi-Jurisdictional Litigation ,
Multinationals ,
NYDFS ,
Privileged Communication ,
Russia ,
Sanction Violations ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Fraud ,
SFO ,
Spoofing ,
Tax Fraud ,
Traders ,
UK ,
Unexplained Wealth Orders (UWOs) ,
United Arab Emirates (UAE) ,
Yates Memorandum
On November 29, 2018, in a speech at the 35th International Conference on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, U.S. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein announced the Department of Justice’s (DOJ or the Department) revised...more
On November 2, 2018, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC or Commission) Division of Enforcement (the Division) released its annual report discussing enforcement-related actions and key initiatives (the...more
11/8/2018
/ Annual Reports ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Cyber Crimes ,
Cybersecurity ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Disgorgement ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Fraud ,
Investor Protection ,
OCIE ,
Offering Fraud ,
Popular ,
Retail Investors ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Share Class Structures
On October 16, 2018, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a Report of Investigation (Report) detailing an investigation by the SEC’s Enforcement Division into the internal accounting controls of nine issuers...more
10/22/2018
/ Corporate Issuers ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Government Investigations ,
Incident Response Plans ,
Information Reports ,
Internal Controls ,
Popular ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Risk Assessment ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Spoofing
This issue of Skadden’s semiannual Cross-Border Investigations Update takes a close look at recent cases, regulatory activity and other key developments, including the use of legal holds in cross-border investigations,...more
8/29/2018
/ China ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Cooperation ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Data Protection ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
EU ,
Fee Reductions ,
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Personal Liability ,
Popular ,
Privileged Communication ,
Serious Fraud Office (SFO) ,
Settlement ,
Trump Administration ,
UK
In a unanimous decision issued on June 5, 2017, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Kokesh v. SEC, 581 U.S. ___, held that disgorgement in securities enforcement cases is a “penalty” within the meaning of 28 U.S.C. § 2462, the general...more
This issue of Skadden’s semiannual Cross-Border Investigations Update takes a close look at recent cases and enforcement trends, including developments in U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement; the introduction of...more
11/4/2015
/ Accomplice Liability ,
Anti-Corruption ,
Asia ,
Attorney-Client Privilege ,
Bribery ,
China ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Cross-Border ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Government Investigations ,
India ,
Internal Investigations ,
Libor ,
Market Manipulation ,
Non-Resident Aliens ,
OECD ,
Public Officials ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Serious Fraud Office (SFO) ,
South Korea ,
Tax Evasion ,
Thailand ,
UK ,
Whistleblower Protection Policies ,
Whistleblowers ,
Work-Product Doctrine
On April 1, 2015, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced its first enforcement action against a company for a restrictive provision in confidentiality agreements that could deter employees from using the...more
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC or Commission) has announced plans to reinvigorate its enforcement efforts with respect to accounting issues. These plans include adding dedicated personnel and using data...more