On January 1, 2021, amendments to Section 21(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (Exchange Act) codifying and expanding the power of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC or Commission) to obtain disgorgement in...more
On June 22, the Supreme Court held in Liu v. SEC that the SEC may obtain disgorgement in federal court cases, as long as the disgorgement does not exceed a wrongdoer’s “net profits and is awarded for victims.” The Court’s...more
6/25/2020
/ 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)
A mandamus petition is an extraordinary remedy that seeks to compel a lower court to take action in extraordinary cases. The U. S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has twice granted mandamus petitions vacating...more
For U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission enforcement practitioners, perhaps the blockbuster decision of the last U.S. Supreme Court term was Kokesh v. SEC — but not for the reason that you might suspect. In Kokesh, the...more
This is the last of four articles examining the scope of the Seventh Amendment jury trial right as applied to the facts that set the maximum monetary penalty a judge may impose against a civil defendant in a U.S. Securities...more
7/26/2016
/ Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Deceptive Intent ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Fraud ,
Jury Instructions ,
Negligence ,
Recklessness ,
Right to a Jury ,
Rule 10b-5 ,
Scienter ,
Securities Act of 1933 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Litigation ,
Securities Violations ,
Seventh Amendment ,
Strict Liability
This is the third of four articles examining the scope of the Seventh Amendment jury trial right for civil defendants in U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission enforcement actions. Our first article explained why the Seventh...more
7/19/2016
/ Causation ,
Detrimental Reliance ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Enhanced Penalties ,
Jury Instructions ,
Loss Causation ,
Penalties ,
Recklessness ,
Right to a Jury ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Fraud ,
Securities Litigation ,
Securities Violations ,
Seventh Amendment
This is the second of four articles examining the scope of the Seventh Amendment jury trial right for civil defendants in U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission enforcement actions. The previous article explained why the...more
7/14/2016
/ Administrative Proceedings ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Due Process ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Jury Instructions ,
Right to a Jury ,
Rule of Lenity ,
Securities Act of 1933 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Securities Litigation ,
Securities Violations ,
Seventh Amendment ,
Sixth Amendment
It has been settled law for some time now that the Seventh Amendment right to a jury trial in U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission enforcement actions extends to liability determinations. Unsettled is the question of...more
A federal district court in Minnesota recently held that the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) permits the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) to bring suit against individuals for willfully violating the BSA's AML program...more
Last week, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) joined the list of regulators who will, in certain circumstances, seek admissions of liability from audit firms and individuals in settlements. Although the...more
10/12/2015
/ Accounting ,
Accounting Standards ,
Admissions of Liability ,
Audit Reports ,
Audits ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Disciplinary Proceedings ,
Independence Rules ,
Neither Admit Nor Deny Settlements ,
PCAOB ,
Recidivism ,
Settlement ,
Willful Misconduct