On April 2, 2025, California Attorney General Rob Bonta issued a Legal Advisory reminding businesses operating in California that foreign bribery remains illegal under California law and that violations of the US Foreign...more
Paul Atkins has taken the reins of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). After being confirmed by the Senate on April 9, Atkins officially began his tenure as SEC Chairman on April 21. His arrival is expected to...more
4/22/2025
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Enforcement Priorities ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Private Funds ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Technology Sector
On February 10, 2025, President Trump signed an executive order instructing the Attorney General of the United States to pause enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act ("FCPA") and to issue updated guidelines for...more
2/13/2025
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Attorney General ,
Compliance ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement ,
Executive Orders ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Legislative Agendas ,
National Security ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Trump Administration ,
White Collar Crimes
The U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission ("SEC") recently announced settled charges against an investment adviser for misrepresentations regarding its anti-money laundering ("AML") procedures and compliance failures. As we...more
1/29/2025
/ AML/CFT ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Compliance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Crimes ,
FinCEN ,
Investment Adviser ,
Penalties ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
On November 22, 2024, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) released its enforcement results for fiscal year ("FY") 2024 (October 1, 2023 through September 30, 2024).1 While the next administration's approach to...more
2024 marks the final year of Gary Gensler's term as Chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"). The Gensler SEC has been aggressive on both the enforcement and rulemaking fronts. In response, the financial...more
12/23/2024
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Capital Markets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Cybersecurity ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Enforcement ,
Enforcement Priorities ,
Financial Markets ,
Fund Managers ,
Gary Gensler ,
Insider Trading ,
Investment Management ,
Machine Learning ,
Pay-To-Play ,
Presidential Nominations ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Rulemaking Process ,
SCOTUS ,
SEC v Jarkesy ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Technology Sector ,
Trump Administration ,
Whistleblower Protection Policies
White & Case's Public Company Advisory Group has conducted a survey of publicly filed insider trading policies to assess emerging trends with respect to key insider trading policy terms. Starting with Form 10-K/20-F annual...more
12/12/2024
/ Annual Reports ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Filing Requirements ,
Form 10-K ,
Form 20-F ,
Insider Trading ,
Policy Terms ,
Regulation S-K ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Required Documentation ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation
On October 21, 2024, the US Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") Division of Examinations ("Examination Division") announced its 2025 Examination Priorities ("Report"). Investment advisers and broker-dealers should...more
11/14/2024
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Cryptoassets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Cybersecurity ,
Information Security ,
Investment Adviser ,
New Regulations ,
Registered Investment Advisors ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
SEC Examination Priorities ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Technology Sector
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's ("SEC") Division of Enforcement has recently brought a spate of enforcement actions relating to key topics for public companies. These include enforcement actions related to...more
Notwithstanding recent reports that the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) has quietly disbanded its Climate and ESG Task Force,1 and while the SEC’s new climate-related disclosure rules remain stayed,2 the SEC’s...more
Over the past year, the Department of Justice ("DOJ") has warned that it will seek stiffer sentences for offenses made significantly more dangerous by the misuse of artificial intelligence ("AI") and has asked the US...more
On September 9, 2024, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced settled charges against seven public companies for violation of the whistleblower protection rule in connection with employment, separation,...more
On August 28, 2024, FinCEN issued a long-awaited final rule meant to address illicit finance activities and national security threats in the asset management industry. The new rule imposes similar requirements on investment...more
9/17/2024
/ AML/CFT ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Exempt Reporting Advisers (ERAs) ,
Final Rules ,
Financial Crimes ,
FinCEN ,
Investment Adviser ,
National Security ,
Registered Investment Advisors
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the US Department of Justice (DOJ) recently announced parallel actions against an activist short seller and his firm, charging them with multiple counts of securities fraud....more
On August 14, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced yet another wave of enforcement actions related to widespread “off-channel communications,” charging an additional 26 firms with failing to maintain...more
8/29/2024
/ Electronic Communications ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Instant Messaging Apps ,
Investigations ,
Investment Advisers Act of 1940 ,
Mobile Devices ,
Popular ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ,
Securities Regulation ,
Self-Reporting ,
WhatsApp
In March 2024, we published an alert regarding Deputy Attorney General (“DAG”) Lisa Monaco’s announcement that the US Department of Justice (“DOJ” or the “Department”) intended to design and implement a new whistleblower...more
8/22/2024
/ CFTC ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Crimes ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Pilot Programs ,
FinCEN ,
Pilot Programs ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Self-Reporting ,
Voluntary Disclosure ,
Whistleblower Awards ,
Whistleblowers ,
White Collar Crimes
On July 18, 2024, a New York federal judge dismissed most of the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s ("SEC") claims against SolarWinds Corp. ("SolarWinds" or the "Company") and its Chief Information Security Officer...more
In April, we issued an alert discussing the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") and Department of Justice’s ("DOJ") expansion of insider trading to 10b5-1 plans. On June 21, 2024, a federal jury in California...more
7/3/2024
/ 10b5-1 Plans ,
Corporate Executives ,
Criminal Convictions ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Insider Information ,
Insider Trading ,
Material Nonpublic Information ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Fraud
On June 27, 2024, the Supreme Court ruled in SEC v. Jarkesy that when the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) seeks civil penalties from defendants for securities fraud, the Seventh Amendment requires it to bring the...more
7/2/2024
/ Administrative Authority ,
Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Administrative Proceedings ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Jury Trial ,
SCOTUS ,
SEC v Jarkesy ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Fraud ,
Securities Regulation ,
Separation of Powers ,
Seventh Amendment
In February 2024, we published an alert discussing the significant benefits of prompt self-reporting and cooperation during a US Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") investigation. This past week, during his keynote...more
On May 13, 2024, FinCEN and the SEC jointly proposed a new rule that would require SEC-registered investment advisers and exempt reporting advisers to maintain written customer identification programs (CIPs). The new rule...more
5/21/2024
/ AML/CFT ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Asset Management ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
Broker-Dealer ,
BSA/AML ,
Comment Period ,
FinCEN ,
Investment Adviser ,
New Rules ,
Public Comment ,
Registered Investment Advisors ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Risk Assessment ,
Risk Management ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
Over the past few months, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") has issued several warnings to companies to ensure accurate disclosure of the role and risks of artificial intelligence ("AI") in their businesses....more
On April 5, 2024, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") won a jury verdict in its first "shadow trading" insider trading action. Only a few weeks before this verdict, a court denied a motion to dismiss a...more
4/16/2024
/ 10b5-1 Plans ,
Affirmative Defenses ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement ,
Good Faith ,
Healthcare ,
Insider Trading ,
Intent to Defraud ,
Mergers ,
Non-Public Information ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Third-Party
In the past few months, we have published several alerts concerning the increase in regulatory attention to "AI washing," or making unfounded claims regarding artificial intelligence ("AI") capabilities.1 Senior officials at...more
In February 2024, we published an alert concerning the increase in regulatory attention to "AI washing," or making unfounded claims regarding artificial intelligence ("AI") capabilities. Notably, on February 14, 2024,...more