On May 25, 2023, Gary Gensler, Chairperson of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), spoke at an Investment Company Institute leadership conference and discussed SEC proposals that address potential instability in...more
On Aug. 8, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned cryptocurrency mixer Tornado Cash for allegedly helping launder more than $7 billion worth of cryptocurrency over three years.1...more
9/29/2022
/ Cryptocurrency ,
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) ,
Declaratory Relief ,
Economic Sanctions ,
FinCEN ,
Investors ,
Money Laundering ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Statutory Authority ,
U.S. Treasury ,
Voluntary Disclosure
On May 18, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held that defendants in SEC enforcement actions for fraud are entitled to jury trials in federal court rather than simply appearing before an SEC administrative law...more
On February 17, 2022, KT Corporation (KT, formerly known as Korea Telecom) resolved a Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) enforcement action with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) related to corruption schemes in...more
Theranos, Trump Organization, Operation Varsity Blues, DEI, ESG and More: Experts Expect SEC and DOJ Actions to Ramp Up in 2022-
2022 will likely be a lot like 2021, only more so. With most key federal positions filled,...more
1/4/2022
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
FDIC ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Fraud ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs) ,
Tax Evasion ,
White Collar Crimes ,
Wire Fraud
On Oct. 21, Ericsson Inc. disclosed that the U.S. Department of Justice asserted that the company had "breached its obligations" under a 2019 deferred prosecution agreement "by failing to provide certain documents and factual...more
The Second Circuit today affirmed the legality of so-called “gag orders” in U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) settlements: the rule that defendants settling with the commission cannot contradict the allegations...more
On March 3, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced its examination priorities for 2021, providing a much-anticipated glimpse into the Biden administration's overall priorities for white collar criminal...more
3/15/2021
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Biden Administration ,
Capital Markets ,
Chief Compliance Officers ,
Climate Change ,
Compliance ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Data Security ,
Digital Assets ,
Disaster Preparedness ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Fraud Prevention ,
Libor ,
Liquidity ,
Military Service Members ,
Operational Requirements ,
Private Funds ,
Registered Investment Advisors ,
Remote Working ,
Retail Investors ,
Retirement ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Standard of Conduct ,
Teachers ,
Technology Sector ,
Turnkey Contracts ,
White Collar Crimes
On Jan. 1, 2021, the U.S. Congress passed amendments to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (Exchange Act) that significantly expand the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) authority to recover disgorgement of any...more
On December 4, 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced a settlement with the Cheesecake Factory Inc. asserting that the company issued materially misleading disclosures about the risk that the COVID-19...more
On November 2, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Enforcement (the Division) published its 2020 Annual Report (the Report), which details the Division’s fiscal year (FY) ending September 30, 2020,...more
11/10/2020
/ Broker-Dealer ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Disgorgement ,
Enforcement ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Fraud ,
Investment Adviser ,
OCIE ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Whistleblower Awards ,
Whistleblowers
On August 31, 2020, the White House issued a memo (the Memo) directing federal agencies to, among other things, “consider the principles of fairness in administrative enforcement and adjudication.”1 The Memo, issued by the...more
In a long-anticipated decision, the U.S. Supreme Court this week upheld the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) ability to obtain disgorgement, provided the award does not exceed the wrongdoer’s ill-gotten gains and is...more
6/23/2020
/ 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)