Each year, the Department of Justice ("DOJ"), the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), and in recent years, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission ("CFTC") dedicate substantial resources to investigating and...more
The U.S. Supreme Court holds that district courts have jurisdiction to hear constitutional challenges to the structure of Federal Trade Commission ("FTC") and Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") administrative...more
If adopted, these proposed rules would (i) enhance protection of customer information under Regulation S-P, (ii) add new requirements addressing cybersecurity risk to the U.S. securities markets, and (iii) expand the types of...more
Asserting that the company misstated the scope of data stolen in the cyberattack, the SEC provides a clear reminder that cybersecurity disclosures remain an agency priority....more
In Short -
The Situation: Under the existing legal regimes, decentralized autonomous organizations ("DAO" or "DAOs") have been viewed as a way to hedge against regulatory action by way of a decentralized structure. The...more
In Short -
The Situation: In a federal district court complaint against Archegos Capital Management, LP ("Archegos"), the Commodity Futures Trading Commission ("CFTC") has asserted jurisdiction over what many view as...more
What Happened On May 25, 2022, the SEC voted 3–1 to propose amendments to: (i) the "Names Rule" (Rule 35d-1) under the Investment Company Act of 1940 ("1940 Act") and (ii) rules and forms under both the Investment Advisers...more
On May 18, 2022, the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled that key aspects of the SEC's in-house enforcement regime for securities fraud cases were unconstitutional. The decision, Jarkesy v. SEC, has significant...more
5/23/2022
/ Adjudicatory Process ,
Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Administrative Proceedings ,
Appeals ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Enforcement Authority ,
Lack of Authority ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Fraud ,
Securities Violations
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's ("SEC") Climate and ESG Task Force has filed one of its most significant enforcement matters to date. On April 28, 2022, the SEC brought an action in the U.S. District Court for...more
On March 21, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") voted 3–1 to propose amendments to Regulations S-K and S-X that would require registrants to provide certain climate-related information in their registration...more
3/24/2022
/ Annual Reports ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Financial Statements ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Public Comment ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulation S-K ,
Regulation S-X ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation
On January 28, 2022, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") announced a settled fraud case with HeadSpin, Inc., a technology start-up, that allegedly engaged in a scheme to boost the company's valuation to more...more
The proposed amendments to the rules governing the whistleblower program, if adopted, would reverse prior amendments and provide further and significant financial incentives for whistleblowers to report potential violations...more
2/14/2022
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Securities Violations ,
Whistleblower Awards ,
Whistleblower Protection Policies ,
Whistleblowers
The SEC's Proposal -
On January 26, 2022, the SEC released a rulemaking proposal that, among other things, would expand the definition of "exchange" under Rule 3b-16 of the Exchange Act. ...more
The Fifth Circuit's opinion creates a circuit split that raises the possibility of a Supreme Court review.
On December 13, 2021, the Fifth Circuit issued an en banc opinion in Cochran v. U.S. Securities & Exchange...more
SEC Chairman Gary Gensler suggests SEC will aggressively police crypto assets and decentralized finance ("DeFi") platforms while seeking expanded authority to regulate these fast-growing industries....more
8/10/2021
/ Cryptoassets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) ,
Digital Assets ,
Gary Gensler ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Policy Statement ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Token Sales ,
Unregistered Securities
The U.S. Supreme Court held that courts should consider the generic nature of a misrepresentation when assessing price impact in securities-fraud suits and that defendants bear the burden of persuasion to prove a lack of...more
6/28/2021
/ Arkansas Teacher Retirement System v Goldman Sachs Group ,
Basic v Levinson ,
Burden of Persuasion ,
Burden of Proof ,
Certiorari ,
Class Action ,
Class Certification ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Goldman Sachs ,
Investors ,
Presumption of Reliance ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Securities Litigation ,
Shareholders
CFTC Commissioner asserts that Decentralized Finance ("DeFi") likely violates the Commodity Exchange Act ("CEA") and that the regulator should respond accordingly.
DeFi is an umbrella term encompassing a range of...more
A recent Reg FD SEC enforcement action against AT&T may signal a renewed focus by the SEC that warrants public companies to assess their disclosure processes.
On March 5, 2021, the SEC charged AT&T and three executives...more
The Court holds that the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") can continue to seek disgorgement from wrongdoers, while narrowing the remedy to net profits that are returned to victims.
In Liu v. SEC, 591 U.S. ___...more
6/25/2020
/ 15 U.S.C. § 78u(d)(5) ,
Business Expenses ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Disgorgement ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Equitable Relief ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Insider Trading ,
Internal Controls ,
Liu v Securities and Exchange Commission ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
While the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") is currently focused on maintaining orderly markets, and extending exemptions from reporting and delivery requirements for entities affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19),...more
The Situation: The U.S. Supreme Court has granted certiorari to consider whether the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") has authority to obtain disgorgement in district court actions.
The Significance: The SEC...more
11/11/2019
/ Administrative Authority ,
Certiorari ,
Disgorgement ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Equitable Relief ,
Kokesh v SEC ,
Lack of Authority ,
Liu v Securities and Exchange Commission ,
Penalties ,
Petition for Writ of Certiorari ,
Regulatory Agencies ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Violations ,
Split of Authority ,
Statute of Limitations
The dissemination of false or misleading information can give rise to primary liability.
In Lorenzo v. Securities and Exchange Commission, the Supreme Court held that someone who (with intent to defraud) disseminates a...more
4/4/2019
/ 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 Violations ,
Suspensions
Initial results of the SEC's Share Class Disclosure Initiative indicate a heightened focus on disclosures made to retail investors and consequences for any failure to self-report.
On February 12, 2018, the U.S. Securities...more
3/21/2019
/ Broker-Dealer ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Investment Adviser ,
OCIE ,
Retail Investors ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Self-Reporting ,
Share Class Selection Disclosure Initiative (SCSD) ,
Wealth Management ,
White Collar Crimes
Disclosure alone is not sufficient; material weaknesses need to be actively remediated.
While the SEC's Financial Reporting and Audit Group has been relatively quiet, it started 2019 with a bang, bringing four coordinated...more
2/20/2019
/ Audits ,
Corporate Issuers ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Reporting ,
ICFR ,
Internal Controls ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Risk Management ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Violations
The Situation: Despite Equifax's use of a cover story to keep employees from learning it was the victim of a serious data breach, a then-employee allegedly figured it out and made illegal securities trades based on the...more
7/16/2018
/ Blackout Rules ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Equifax ,
Former Employee ,
Insider Trading ,
Material Nonpublic Information ,
Popular ,
Securities ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Fraud