Significant post-election shifts in corporate governance policy are already occurring among regulators, self-regulatory organizations and proxy advisors.
The SEC will no longer litigate its climate disclosure rules,...more
2/21/2025
/ Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Glass Lewis ,
Investors ,
Nasdaq ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholders
Last week, we published an OnPoint regarding the formation of a new Crypto Task Force (the “Task Force”) at the Securities and Exchange Commission. On Tuesday, February 4, 2025, SEC Commissioner Hester M. Peirce issued a...more
2/7/2025
/ Blockchain ,
Crypto Exchanges ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
FinTech ,
Investors ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation
The first week of the Trump administration saw notable developments in U.S. crypto regulation. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission created a new “Crypto Task Force,” rescinded controversial staff accounting guidance...more
1/31/2025
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Blockchain ,
Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDCs) ,
Cryptoassets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Executive Orders ,
FinTech ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Stablecoins
The SEC’s Division of Examinations (EXAMS) published its report on 2025 Examination Priorities on October 21, 2024.
Areas such as artificial intelligence (AI), cybersecurity and crypto assets are top of mind for EXAMS,...more
11/5/2024
/ Artificial Impairment ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Cybersecurity ,
Fees ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Investment Adviser ,
Outsourcing ,
Private Funds ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
On October 10, 2024, the SEC filed a Complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, alleging that a major market maker in crypto assets is operating as an unregistered dealer, in violation of...more
In Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, the Supreme Court overruled the doctrine of Chevron deference but made clear that cases relying on Chevron’s interpretive framework remain good law subject to statutory stare decisis....more
7/11/2024
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Chevron Deference ,
Chevron v NRDC ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Government Agencies ,
Judicial Authority ,
Loper Bright Enterprises v Raimondo ,
National Marine Fisheries Service ,
Regulatory Authority ,
SCOTUS ,
Statutory Interpretation
The SEC has charged a leading developer on the Ethereum blockchain with engaging in the unregistered offer and sale of certain securities through a “liquid staking” program and with failing to register as a broker in...more
7/5/2024
/ Blockchain ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Cryptoassets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Ethereum ,
Investment Adviser ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Litigation ,
Securities Regulation ,
Securities Violations ,
Software Developers ,
Unregistered Brokers ,
Unregistered Securities
Yesterday, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit vacated the SEC’s Private Fund Adviser Rule in its entirety. Dechert LLP represented the Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America in filing an...more
The United States House of Representatives voted 279-136 to pass the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act (“FIT21”), on Wednesday, May 22, 2024. FIT21 is the first crypto-related legislation to clear...more
The court vacated the last of the three conditions that were applied to proxy advisory firms as a result of the SEC’s 2020 regulation of Proxy Advisory Firms.
As a result of this ruling, Proxy Advisory Firms are no longer...more
On March 6, 2024, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) adopted on a 3-2 vote its long-awaited, comprehensive rules for enhancing and standardizing climate-related disclosures by public companies in periodic...more
3/8/2024
/ Climate Change ,
Compliance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Final Rules ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Proposed Rules ,
Regulation S-K ,
Risk Management ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Severe Weather
At a contentious open meeting on February 6, 2024, the Securities and Exchange Commission (Commission) voted three to two to adopt rule amendments (Final Rules) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (Exchange...more
President Biden’s recent Executive Order on Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence:
Establishes a federal government-wide effort to mitigate risks of improper AI development and use....more
12/21/2023
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Biden Administration ,
Consumer Protection Laws ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Privacy ,
Executive Orders ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Machine Learning ,
National Security ,
New Guidance ,
NIST ,
Personal Data ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Risk Mitigation ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
The SEC’s Division of Examinations (EXAMS) published its report on 2024 Examination Priorities on October 16, 2023.
The 2024 Examination Priorities continue to reflect an examination program that is vigorous and broad...more
12/18/2023
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Compensation ,
Compliance ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Cryptoassets ,
Cybersecurity ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Due Diligence ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Investment ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Advisers Act of 1940 ,
Private Funds ,
REIT ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
California continues its initiatives to increase workplace diversity through a new law that will require certain funds with a nexus to California to report DEI information about the founding teams of their portfolio...more
12/8/2023
/ California ,
Capital Markets ,
Diversity ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Investment ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investors ,
Legislative Agendas ,
New Legislation ,
Portfolio Companies ,
Private Equity ,
Private Funds ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Transparency ,
Venture Capital
Key Takeaways -
Following the SEC’s adoption, earlier this year, of changes to Form PF, large hedge fund advisers will face, for the first time, a requirement to report certain events to the SEC within 72 hours. ...more
9/21/2023
/ Clawbacks ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Filing Requirements ,
Final Rules ,
FSOC ,
Hedge Funds ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Advisers Act of 1940 ,
New Amendments ,
Private Funds ,
Registered Investment Advisors ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
The SEC has proposed new rules designed to regulate potential conflicts of interest associated with broker-dealers’ and investment advisers’ use of certain AI-related technologies in their interactions with investors.
The...more
9/7/2023
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Consumer Protection Act ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Advisers Act of 1940 ,
Investors ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Predictive Analytics ,
Proposed Rules ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act of 1934
In the past year, environmental, social, and governance (“ESG”) practices have faced heightened scrutiny in the United States from state attorneys general, state and federal legislators, other government officials, and...more
6/21/2023
/ 401k ,
Administrative Procedure Act ,
Asset Management ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Duty of Loyalty ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Investment ,
Investors ,
Mismanagement ,
Popular ,
Putative Class Actions ,
Retirement Plan Providers ,
Risk Management
The Financial Stability Oversight Council on April 21, 2023, released for public comment a proposed analytic framework for financial stability risk identification, assessment and response (Proposed Framework) and proposed...more
Over the last six months, artificial intelligence (AI) has captured the public imagination in a way it never has before. A new generation of AI-powered language models make use of a deep learning architecture known as a...more
4/27/2023
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Banking Sector ,
Broker-Dealer ,
CFTC ,
Cybersecurity ,
Due Diligence ,
ECOA ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Investment Adviser ,
Lending ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Software
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, by a vote of four-to-one, proposed a major overhaul of the investment adviser custody rule on February 15, 2023. The proposal would amend and redesignate Rule 206(4)-2 under the...more
The Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Examinations (EXAMS) published its report on 2023 Examination Priorities on February 7, 2023. The 2023 Examination Priorities continue to reflect an examination program...more
The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) released an annual summary, on November 15, 2022, of actions brought by the Division of Enforcement (“Division”) over fiscal year 2022 (“Enforcement Summary”), providing an...more
12/13/2022
/ Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Climate Change ,
Cryptoassets ,
Cybersecurity ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Disgorgement ,
Enforcement ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Fraud ,
Penalties ,
Private Funds ,
Sarbanes-Oxley ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs) ,
Whistleblowers
The Securities and Exchange Commission on November 2, 2022 proposed significant revisions to its rules governing open-end investment company liquidity risk management and swing pricing. The proposal would also update related...more
11/4/2022
/ Disclosure Requirements ,
Form N-CEN ,
Form N-PORT ,
GAAP ,
Illiquid Assets ,
Investment ,
Investment Adviser ,
Liquidity ,
Liquidity Risk Management Rule ,
Money Market Funds ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Proposed Rules ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Swing Pricing
The November 4, 2022, deadline for advisers to implement amended Rule 206(4)-1 (Marketing Rule) and related rules under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 is fast approaching. Advisers required to comply with the rule are...more
10/24/2022
/ Advertising ,
Amended Rules ,
Cash Solicitation Rule ,
Compliance ,
Endorsements ,
Investment Advisers Act of 1940 ,
Investment Company Act of 1940 ,
Marketing ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Private Funds ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Registered Investment Advisors ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Testimonial Statements