The Development: On August 1, 2024, the Department of Justice's ("DOJ") Criminal Division announced its Corporate Whistleblower Awards Pilot Program ("Pilot Program"), designed to reward whistleblowers who report information...more
8/20/2024
/ CFTC ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Financial Crimes ,
Financial Institutions ,
FinCEN ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Healthcare Fraud ,
Money Laundering ,
Pilot Programs ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Whistleblower Awards ,
Whistleblowers ,
White Collar Crimes
Recently, a senior officer from the SEC's Division of Enforcement defended the penalties the Commission has levied on firms for failing to capture and retain their employees' "off-channel" electronic communications, and, in...more
The Background: In August 2022, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held in Murray v. UBS Securities, LLC., et al. ("Murray") that an employee suing his employer under the anti-retaliation provisions of...more
2/19/2024
/ Adverse Employment Action ,
Anti-Retaliation Provisions ,
Burden of Proof ,
Certiorari ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Murray v UBS Securities LLC ,
Retaliation ,
Sarbanes-Oxley ,
SCOTUS ,
Whistleblower Protection Policies ,
Whistleblowers
The recently created SDNY Whistleblower Pilot Program encourages individuals to self-disclose certain criminal conduct and cooperate in resulting investigations and prosecutions.
...more
2/8/2024
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Criminal Liability ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
New York ,
Non-Prosecution Agreements ,
Pilot Programs ,
Self-Disclosure Requirements ,
Whistleblower Protection Policies ,
Whistleblowers ,
White Collar Crimes
We are pleased to present our latest update on financial reporting and issuer disclosure enforcement activity. This White Paper primarily focuses on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (“SEC”) enforcement activity...more
On January 9, 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reversed a 2022 jury verdict for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission ("CFTC") against EOX Holdings LLC and a former broker, Andrew Gizienski, holding...more
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) enforcement continues to slowly rebound from pre-pandemic levels. In 2023, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) resolved 13 corporate FCPA...more
In Short -
The Background: As voluntary carbon credits ("VCCs") have grown in popularity, questions about their integrity and quality have arisen for investors and among regulators and lawmakers. For this reason, many have...more
12/14/2023
/ Carbon Emissions ,
Carbon Pricing ,
CFTC ,
Derivatives ,
Designated Contract Markets (DCMs) ,
Energy Market ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Markets ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Investment ,
Proposed Guidance ,
Risk Management ,
SEFs
On November 7, 2023, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ("CFPB") issued a proposed rule that would grant it supervisory authority over major nonbank technology companies in the consumer digital payments space....more
11/16/2023
/ Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Credit Cards ,
Credit Reports ,
Digital Wallets ,
Electronic Payment Transactions ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
Mortgage Lenders ,
Nonbank Firms ,
Peer-to-Peer ,
Proposed Rules ,
Regulatory Agencies ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Authority
The Background: The CFTC Division of Enforcement ("Enforcement") recently issued an advisory on new enforcement policies that increase the agency's focus on corporate accountability through increasing civil penalties,...more
In light of the DOJ’s most recent guidance on the use of personal devices and third-party messaging applications by corporate personnel, this White Paper addresses issues and challenges that companies are facing in this area...more
10/18/2023
/ CFTC ,
Compliance ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Collection ,
Data Privacy ,
Data Protection ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Electronic Communications ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Guidance Update ,
Instant Messaging Apps ,
Mobile Devices ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
White Collar Crimes ,
Workplace Communication
Under a new U.S. Department of Justice ("DOJ") policy related to mergers and acquisitions ("M&A"), DOJ will decline to prosecute an acquiring company for misconduct by an acquired company where the acquiring company timely...more
In Short -
The Situation: The California legislature passed landmark climate bills that surpass emissions disclosure requirements of any other existing state law. The bills are branded as the nation's first comprehensive...more
9/28/2023
/ California ,
CARB ,
Climate Action Plan ,
Climate Change ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Doing Business ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Proposed Rules ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Sustainability
In Short -
The Situation: The civil action of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission ("CFTC") against Archegos Capital Management LP and its CFO is but one of many civil and criminal matters arising out of Archegos's...more
9/28/2023
/ CFTC ,
Consumer Protection Act ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Enforcement Actions ,
ETFs ,
Exchange-Traded Products ,
Financial Markets ,
Fraud ,
Jurisdiction ,
Regulatory Authority ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Security-Based Swaps
We are pleased to present our latest update on financial reporting and issuer disclosure enforcement activity. This White Paper primarily focuses on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (“SEC”) enforcement activity...more
In 2022, anti-money laundering ("AML") and sanctions controls were at the center of regulatory and enforcement activities in the United States and abroad. Globally, governments have continued to recognize the impact of AML...more
The largest-ever award highlights the importance of whistleblowers to the SEC's biggest cases.
On May 5, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") awarded $279 million to a whistleblower, the agency's largest...more
Each year, the Department of Justice ("DOJ"), the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), and in recent years, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission ("CFTC") dedicate substantial resources to investigating and...more
In Short -
The Situation: The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC" or "Commission") has reopened the comment period for its January 2022 proposal to amend Exchange Act Rule 3b-16 to broadly expand the...more
In Short -
The Situation: As a follow-up to the deputy attorney general's September 2022 memorandum, the U.S. Department of Justice ("DOJ" or "Department") announced in March 2023 significant updates to its corporate...more
On February 22, 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice ("DOJ" or "Department") announced the Voluntary Self-Disclosure Policy ("VSD Policy" or "Policy"), detailing the circumstances under which a company can receive credit for...more
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) enforcement has yet to rebound from the immediate pre-pandemic period. In 2022, DOJ and SEC resolved eight corporate FCPA matters for $878 million, including four resolutions coordinated...more
3/3/2023
/ Anti-Bribery ,
Anti-Corruption ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corporate Crimes ,
Corruption ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Money Laundering ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
In Short -
The Situation: Decentralized finance ("DeFi") is a rapidly growing sector that, by definition, eschews centralized financial institutions altogether. Misconduct that has accompanied that growth has drawn the...more
In Short -
The Situation: On January 17, 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice ("DOJ" or "Department") announced significant revisions to the Criminal Division's Corporate Enforcement Policy....more
In Short -
The Situation: Congress recently amended the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the "Exchange Act") to exempt certain "M&A brokers" from registration as broker-dealers with the U.S. Securities and Exchange...more