Like a fashion trend that never fails to come back in style (we look fabulous in baggy jeans, btw), we're revisiting SEC enforcement actions involving public company executive perquisites – or "perks" – a topic we have...more
1/31/2025
/ Cooperation ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Employee Benefits ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Executive Compensation ,
Perks ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulation S-K ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Settlement
The SEC's wave of enforcement actions concerning "off-channel" communications did not abate in 2024. In total, the SEC announced more than 70 firms agreed to pay more than a half-billion dollars combined to settle charges for...more
12/20/2024
/ Broker-Dealer ,
CFTC ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Electronic Communications ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Instant Messaging Apps ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Advisers Act of 1940 ,
Mobile Devices ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act
The SEC was increasingly active in fiscal year (FY) 2024 in pursuing enforcement actions involving cybersecurity incidents and artificial intelligence (AI) (query how long society will continue to define AI; harkens to the...more
The SEC did not take its foot off the pedal in fiscal year (FY) 2024 when it came to prosecuting insider trading. In the third installment of Season's Readings, we consider several recent actions in which the agency secured...more
12/12/2024
/ Consent Order ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Enforcement Priorities ,
Failure-to-File ,
Hackers ,
Insider Trading ,
Material Nonpublic Information ,
Misappropriation ,
Regulation FD ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act
The SEC on Oct. 22, 2024, announced charges against four companies for allegedly making materially misleading disclosures concerning the impact of cybersecurity incidents associated with the compromised SolarWinds' Orion...more
10/31/2024
/ Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Corporate Governance ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Cyber Incident Reporting ,
Cybersecurity ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Form 8-K ,
Material Misrepresentation ,
Misleading Statements ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Software ,
SolarWinds
The SEC continues to expand its cybersecurity enforcement authority to include allegations that a company's failure to monitor its managed security service providers (MSSP) amounts to violations of federal securities laws....more
7/9/2024
/ Accounting Controls ,
Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) ,
Corporate Governance ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Form 8-K ,
Incident Response Plans ,
Internal Controls ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act
The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on May 30, 2024, approved a settled final judgment against technology company Arista Networks' former chairman and CEO, Andreas "Andy" Bechtolsheim based on...more
6/11/2024
/ Acquisitions ,
Breach of Duty ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Confidential Information ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Insider Trading ,
Material Nonpublic Information ,
Misappropriation ,
Rule 10b-5 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Securities Fraud ,
Settlement ,
Stock Options ,
Target Company
In a series of settlements announced this year, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) penalized several broker-dealers for allegedly failing to file...more
11/9/2023
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Banking Sector ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Compliance Monitoring ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
FinCEN ,
NASD ,
Registered Representatives ,
Regulation SHO ,
Remediation ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Self-Reporting ,
Settlement ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) ,
Threshold Requirements
Digital assets are not the only coins drawing regulatory scrutiny these days. Earlier this year, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that it filed a complaint against California-based Red Rock Secured...more
10/27/2023
/ 401k ,
CFTC ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Fraud ,
Individual Retirement Account (IRA) ,
Investment Advisers Act of 1940 ,
Parallel Proceedings ,
Rare Earth Metals ,
Retirement Plan ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Securities Violations
As the SEC closed its fiscal year, it filed three separate enforcement actions against companies for purported violations of Rule 21F-17 under the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, which prohibits persons from impeding...more
10/10/2023
/ Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Compliance ,
Contract Terms ,
Employment Contract ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Remediation ,
Retaliation ,
Rule 21F-17 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Securities Violations ,
Separation Agreement ,
Whistleblower Protection Policies ,
Whistleblowers
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
8/11/2023
/ Cryptoassets ,
Digital Assets ,
Digital Platforms ,
Discovery Disputes ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Howey ,
Interlocutory Appeals ,
Investment Contract ,
Popular ,
Securities Act of 1933 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Security-Based Swaps ,
Token Sales ,
Trading Platforms ,
Unregistered Securities
In a one-two punch earlier this month, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) brought successive actions against two of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchanges – the first blows in what will likely be...more
Public companies should be mindful not to interfere with or retaliate against whistleblowers, and stretching is best reserved for the yoga mat, not the numbers in a company's public disclosures. So says the U.S. Securities...more
6/12/2023
/ Anti-Retaliation Provisions ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Retaliation ,
Rule 21F-17 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Securities Violations ,
Severance Agreements ,
Whistleblower Awards ,
Whistleblower Protection Policies ,
Whistleblowers
Ages ago, hieroglyphics were painstakingly etched into stone. They communicated various types of messages, from fables to business transactions, and lasted thousands of years. Today, we still communicate the same type of...more
5/26/2023
/ Broker-Dealer ,
Compliance ,
Data Preservation ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Discovery ,
Electronic Communications ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Instant Messaging Apps ,
Mobile Devices ,
New Guidance ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Registered Investment Advisors ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act
On January 2, 2013, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York dismissed a securities class action complaint filed against an online provider of medical information and three of its directors and officers,...more