Last month, the SEC announced that it had adopted amendments updating the rules of practice governing its in-house administrative proceedings.  On August 9, 2016, Compliance Week published an article on the recently-adopted amendments, entitled, SEC modifies administrative proceedings, but did it go far enough? The article features insights from Proskauer partner Joshua Newville, who discusses whether the amendments sufficiently address the SEC’s perceived “home-field advantage” in administrative proceedings.

According to Newville, by adopting these amendments, the SEC has “inched slightly more toward expanding deposition rights and prehearing deadlines.” Yet, while he acknowledged that the SEC was taking a step in the right direction, Newville cautioned that many practitioners would find the changes “woefully inadequate.”

Newville highlighted the timeline for administrative proceedings as a particular area of concern.  “The Enforcement Division has years to investigate a case, explore theories, and do their work.  After the case is filed, however, the respondent will only have a period of months to really do trial prep,” he explained.  “It is not what one would necessarily call an equal process on both sides.  Most practitioners will think it is a step in the right direction to expand the process.  It just doesn’t go far enough to where they would say, ‘Ok, it is a fair process on behalf of defendants.’”