On September 4, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued an order against three investment adviser firms for violating the whistleblower protections of Rule 21F-17(a) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. This...more
On June 27, the U.S. Supreme Court released a 6-3 decision in SEC v. Jarkesy, et al., ending the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) long-standing use of in-house administrative law judge (ALJ) tribunals in cases where...more
The Financial Industry Regulation Authority’s (FINRA) Enforcement Division recently announced a resolution to a nearly two-and-a-half-year investigation in which TradeZero America, Inc. (TradeZero) agreed to pay a fine of...more
On June 11, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced the first settled case in its ongoing review of collaborations between investment advisors and short publishers. The SEC fined affiliated investment advisors...more
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s (FINRA) Enforcement Division recently announced its first settlement involving a firm’s supervision of social media influencers. The respondent, M1 Finance LLC (M1), is a...more
On April 4, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a stay on the implementation of its newly enacted climate impact disclosure rules. This decision is connected to a challenge to the rules currently pending in...more
It was a busy year for enforcement activity in the cyber, crypto, SPAC, and whistleblower spaces, with several pending actions that will likely have wide-ranging implications in 2024. We are also awaiting a ruling from the...more
2/29/2024
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
CFTC ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Cybersecurity ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Financial Crimes ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinCEN ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs) ,
Whistleblowers
In a 2-1 opinion issued on February 14, 2024, an Eleventh Circuit panel partially reversed a lower court ruling that would have barred a defendant from participating in future penny-stock offerings. The majority found it was...more
Despite a 50% increase in whistleblower tips over fiscal year (FY) 2022, the number of whistleblowers who received awards from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) decreased significantly in FY 2023. This trend...more
On November 14, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) published its enforcement results for fiscal year 2023, which concluded on September 30. These results provide insight into the SEC's priorities and enforcement...more
On October 4, U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California Martin Estrada announced the formation of a new task force, the Corporate and Securities Fraud Strike Force....more
10/13/2023
/ Bank Secrecy Act ,
California ,
Financial Markets ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Insider Trading ,
Money Laundering ,
Securities Fraud ,
Securities Regulation ,
Securities Transactions ,
Securities Violations ,
State and Local Government ,
Tax Evasion ,
Trading Platforms
The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear a case this term involving the circuit split over the types of disclosures that private plaintiffs can enforce under Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Section 10(b)...more
10/6/2023
/ Certiorari ,
Class Action ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Macquarie Infrastructure Corp v Moab Partners LP ,
Regulation S-K ,
Rule 10(b) ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ,
Securities Regulation ,
Securities Violations
On September 8, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that it settled charges against Monolith Resources LLC, a privately held technology and energy company headquartered in Nebraska. The SEC’s...more
On June 30, the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari in SEC v. Jarkesy, et al. and agreed to hear the case that could potentially end the use of administrative courts and administrative law judges (ALJ) in administrative...more
In recent years, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has had its eye on the special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) market — warning investors against putting money into SPACs, expressing skepticism about...more
On April 26, the SEC’s Division of Examinations (EXAMS) issued a risk alert on the importance of broker-dealers and investment advisers (collectively, “firms”) establishing and following written policies and procedures aimed...more
On April 14, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reopened the comment period for a January 2022 proposal that would subject cryptocurrency exchanges and decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms to the Securities...more
On April 14, the Supreme Court unanimously held that federal district courts have jurisdiction to review constitutional challenges to the structures of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Securities and Exchange Commission...more
In March 2023, the Department of Justice (DOJ) Criminal Division updated its Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs (ECCP) guidance to address the use of personal devices and third-party messaging applications by...more
On March 14, DXC Technology Company (DXC) settled charges alleged by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for $8 million. The SEC claimed that DXC made misleading disclosures and lacked adequate disclosure controls...more
On February 3, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that video game developer Activision Blizzard, Inc. (Activision) agreed to pay $35 million to settle accusations that it violated whistleblower...more
On January 6, a federal judge for the Western District of New York denied a cannabis and tobacco engineering company’s attempt to dismiss claims that it concealed a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) investigation...more
On January 9, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that it had reached a settlement with McDonald’s and its former CEO, Stephen Easterbrook, for charges stemming from McDonald’s 2019 termination of...more
On January 10, FINRA published its “2023 Report on FINRA’s Examination and Risk Management Program” (Report) — FINRA’s third annual compendium of guidance, covering key topics and emerging risks for member firms to consider...more
On December 13, federal prosecutors announced criminal fraud and money laundering charges against Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) in the wake of the collapse of FTX Trading Ltd. (FTX), the crypto asset trading platform that SBF...more