On September 9, 2024, approximately one year since its first flurry of similar Marketing Rule actions, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) announced settlements with nine SEC-registered investment advisers (the...more
9/17/2024
/ Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Compliance ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Form ADV ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Advisers Act of 1940 ,
Marketing ,
Registered Investment Advisors ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Violations ,
Social Networks ,
Websites
On June 27, 2024, the United States Supreme Court issued a much-anticipated decision in Securities and Exchange Commission v. Jarkesy, holding that parties subject to an enforcement action brought by the U.S. Securities and...more
7/12/2024
/ Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Enforcement Authority ,
Government Agencies ,
Jury Trial ,
SCOTUS ,
SEC v Jarkesy ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Fraud ,
Securities Violations ,
Seventh Amendment
Yesterday, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit vacated the “Private Funds Rules,” which the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) adopted on August 23, 2023. The opinion of the...more
On May 21, 2024, Erik Gerding, director of the Division of Corporation Finance of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), issued a statement with clarifying guidance on cybersecurity incident disclosure under Item...more
5/30/2024
/ Corporate Governance ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Cyber Incident Reporting ,
Cybersecurity ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Form 8-K ,
Materiality ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation
As a reminder, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the National Association of Private Fund Managers (NAPFM) and the other Petitioners in the Private Funds Rules Litigation1 requested that the three-judge panel...more
5/22/2024
/ Appeals ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Fraud ,
Fund Managers ,
Investment Adviser ,
Private Funds ,
Retail Investors ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Fraud ,
Securities Regulation ,
Securities Violations
The SEC (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission) recently hosted the 2024 SEC Speaks conference in Washington, DC. During the event, SEC leaders, including the Chair, commissioners, and senior staffers, shared their views...more
4/18/2024
/ Cooperation ,
Disgorgement ,
Electronic Communications ,
Enforcement ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Enforcement Statistics ,
Personal Liability ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Regular Business Communications ,
Securities ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Violations ,
Whistleblowers
On March 6, 2024, the SEC adopted expansive new climate disclosure rules (the “Rules”). As noted in our March 12, 2024 client alert summarizing and analyzing the new Rules, litigation challenging the Rules was already...more
As annual reporting season begins, it is important to take a fresh look at the company’s governance and incident response processes and develop risk-informed and compliant disclosures. While many companies are understandably...more
1/11/2024
/ Corporate Governance ,
Cyber Incident Reporting ,
Cybersecurity ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Form 10-K ,
Incident Response Plans ,
Popular ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulation S-K ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
On November 14, 2023, the SEC announced its enforcement results for fiscal year 2023, which ended on September 30, reporting the following key metrics and highlights...more
On November 1, 2023, the industry groups (the Petitioners) challenging the new Private Fund Adviser Rules filed in the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit their opening brief (the Brief) setting forth their legal...more
11/7/2023
/ Audits ,
Custody Rule ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Advisers Act of 1940 ,
Investment Company Act of 1940 ,
Pay-To-Play ,
Private Funds ,
Registered Investment Advisors ,
Retail Investors ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
On October 16, 2023, the SEC’s Division of Examinations (EXAMS) published its exam priorities for 2024. The timing is notable, with the release coming several months ahead of the typical timeline and only eight months after...more
10/26/2023
/ Broker-Dealer ,
Compliance ,
Cryptoassets ,
Cybersecurity ,
FinTech ,
Form CRS ,
Investment Adviser ,
Private Funds ,
Registered Investment Companies (RICs) ,
Regulation BI ,
SEC Examination Priorities ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) announced on September 11, 2023, that it had settled with nine SEC-registered investment advisers (the Advisers) over alleged violations of Rule 206(4)-1 under the...more
On September 6, 2023, the staff of the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s (the “SEC”) Division of Examinations (the “Division”) issued a risk alert describing how it selects investment advisers for examination and the...more
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) announced on August 21, 2023 that it has settled with a FinTech registered investment adviser (the “Adviser”) that offers multiple investment strategies, including a...more
8/25/2023
/ Contract Terms ,
Cryptoassets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Failure To Disclose ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
FinTech ,
Investment Adviser ,
Marketing ,
Misleading Statements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Violations ,
Settlement
As a significant step in its ongoing initiatives on the disclosure, management, and oversight of cybersecurity risks and incidents, on July 26, 2023, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC or Commission) adopted rules...more
7/31/2023
/ Compliance ,
Corporate Governance ,
Cyber Incident Reporting ,
Cybersecurity ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Final Rules ,
Foreign Private Issuers ,
Form 10-K ,
Form 8-K ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulation S-K ,
Risk Management ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Smaller Reporting Companies ,
Third-Party Risk ,
XBRL Filing Requirements
The following is an edited version of a conversation between Goodwin partners Jonathan Hecht and Isaac Vinyarsh. Before joining Goodwin, Jonathan spent more than a decade in the SEC’s Division of Enforcement, including...more
7/24/2023
/ Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Disgorgement ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Enforcement Priorities ,
Excessive Fees ,
Fees ,
Fund Managers ,
Prejudgment Interest ,
Private Investment Funds ,
Proposed Rules ,
Risk Mitigation ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
The federal Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs recently published the SEC’s Spring 2023 “Reg Flex” agenda. Chairman Gary Gensler sets the SEC’s agenda, which identifies rules that the agency expects to consider over...more
On May 5, 2023, New York Attorney General Letitia James released a bill for consideration by the New York State Legislature that would implement comprehensive and far-reaching regulation of digital asset activities in the...more
5/17/2023
/ Brokers ,
Crypto Exchanges ,
Digital Assets ,
Digital Platforms ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Financial Regulatory Agencies ,
Influencers ,
Investment Adviser ,
Listing Standards ,
Market Participants ,
NYDFS ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Proprietary Trading ,
Registration Requirement ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
State Attorneys General
The SEC continues its overhaul of cybersecurity, cyber incident reporting, and privacy controls and requirements for industry registrants, their services providers, and corporate America generally.
On March 15, 2023, the SEC...more
4/14/2023
/ Broker-Dealer ,
Compliance ,
Covered Entities ,
Cyber Incident Reporting ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Disposal Protocols ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Incident Response Plans ,
Mutual Funds ,
Personal Information ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Proposed Rules ,
Registered Investment Advisors ,
Regulation S-P ,
Safeguards Rule ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Sensitive Personal Information
The SEC has settled several cases of improper celebrity crypto endorsements over the past several years. The most recent example involved NBA hall of famer Paul Pierce, also known as the “Truth.” The crux of the SEC’s...more
The 2023 priorities letter represents only a sliver of the topics firms can expect exam teams to cover this year. In developing the priorities, SEC staff noted their outreach directly to state securities regulators and...more
The SEC’s Fall 2022 “Reg Flex” agenda was recently published by the federal Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA). Chair Gensler sets the agency’s agenda, which provides a glimpse into how the agency will...more
On December 14, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission unanimously adopted final rules relating to Rule 10b5-1 plans. Properly structured, a Rule 10b5-1 plan provides an affirmative defense to Rule 10b-5 liability for...more
FINRA recently announced targeted exams of its members focused on certain retail communications concerning “crypto asset” products and services between July 1, 2022 and September 30, 2022. For purposes of the exams, FINRA...more
On November 15, 2022, the SEC announced its enforcement results for fiscal year 2022, which ended on September 30, reporting the following key metrics and highlights...more