Each month, we publish a roundup of the most important SEC enforcement developments for busy in-house lawyers and compliance professionals. This month we examine: • Fraud and internal control failure charges against...more
The same day that the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) in SEC v. Ripple Labs, Inc. denied the SEC's request for an interlocutory appeal of the bombshell summary judgment ruling in the case, the...more
On October 19, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) dismissed its claims against Ripple Labs, Inc. (Ripple) executives Bradley Garlinghouse and Christian Larsen for allegedly aiding and abetting Ripple’s violations of...more
Regulators Hit Jackpot: Off-Channel Communications - Several years before announcing the first “off-channel” communications enforcement action, the SEC and FINRA cautioned broker-dealers and investment advisers about...more
On October 3, 2023, a federal court denied the Securities and Exchange Commission’s request to certify for appeal the same court’s decision (Initial Decision) granting Ripple Labs, Inc.’s and two principals’ motion for...more
On August 9, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sent a letter to U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres requesting leave to file an interlocutory appeal in SEC v. Ripple Labs, Inc. as to the two adverse liability...more
Specifically, the SEC wants a change to persuade the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit – now, not later – of its view that Torres got it wrong when she determined that the company's offer and sale of its XRP token...more
The SEC suffered a significant loss last week in its ongoing legal battle with Ripple over the XRP digital token. While the District Court held that Ripple’s initial sales of XRP to institutional investors constituted the...more
While much of the corporate legal world has been focused on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, a little-noticed case working its way through the federal courts in Washington, D.C. threatens to whittle down the scope of...more
In the past few years, the SEC has become increasingly active in bringing enforcement actions based on broker-dealers' alleged failures to comply with requirements of the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), in particular that requirement...more
A federal court in Utah recently held that the Securities and Exchange Commission may bring an enforcement action based on allegedly foreign securities transactions involving non-U.S. residents if sufficient conduct occurred...more
Without a bright line requirement of an SEC contact to trigger whistleblower status, employers may not learn until after termination that an employee claims to be a whistleblower. Employees often raise internal questions,...more
In a closely-watched decision involving judicial review of agency settlements, the Unites States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit vacated United States District Court Judge Jed Rakoff’s 2011 order rejecting a proposed...more
In an eagerly anticipated decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit vacated the 2011 decision of Judge Jed S. Rakoff of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, rejecting a proposed...more
On June 4, 2014, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit vacated and remanded a November 28, 2011 order from the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York refusing to approve a...more
On June 4, 2014, a three-judge Second Circuit panel reversed and remanded Judge Rakoff’s 2011 order that rejected an S.E.C. settlement with Citigroup. The proposed settlement resolved the S.E.C.’s securities fraud case...more
Wednesday’s decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in the Citigroup case is significant because it clarifies the standards for judicial review of consent decrees in SEC enforcement proceedings and...more
The SEC had mixed results in court this week. A Manhattan jury returned a verdict against the agency in a high profile and long-running insider trading case where the agency had previously obtained favorable rulings from the...more
I recently wrote about Judge Rakoff’s refusal to enter the SEC’s proposed consent decree in SEC v. Citigroup Global Markets, Inc., 827 F. Supp. 2d 328 (SDNY 2011) – and the shift in SEC enforcement policy that it prompted. ...more
You’d be forgiven if you’d forgotten at this point, but way back in Obama’s first term, the SEC once investigated and sued Citigroup for its involvement in a collateralized debt obligation deal. As the SEC said in its...more
In a long-awaited decision, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit today overturned Judge Rakoff's highly controversial decision which refused to approve a $285-million settlement between the United States...more
The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit yesterday vacated a closely-watched 2011 decision by U.S. District Court Judge Jed Rakoff rejecting a $285 million fraud settlement between Citigroup Inc. and the U.S....more
The Second Circuit handed down its long awaited opinion in SEC v. Citigroup Global Markets, Inc., Nos. 11-5227-cv, 11-5375-cv and 11-5242-cv (2nd Cir. June 4, 2014). The decision arises out of the refusal of the District...more