In the first half of 2024, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) issued several fines and suspensions against participants in the municipal market, including for violations of its registration, reporting,...more
7/26/2024
/ Broker-Dealer ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
MSRB ,
Municipal Securities Market ,
Proposed Rules ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation
Summary -
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has recently announced settlements with a number of companies whose separation agreements or internal policies the SEC viewed as impeding employees’ participation in the...more
10/5/2023
/ Anti-Retaliation Provisions ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Former Employee ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Securities Violations ,
Separation Agreement ,
Settlement ,
Whistleblower Protection Policies ,
Whistleblowers
Summary -
The SEC’s pursuit of the crypto industry continues with its second-ever settlement of a non-fungible token (NFT) enforcement action. The SEC settled with Stoner Cats 2 LLC (SC2), which sought to finance an...more
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The SEC’s focus on the crypto industry expanded this week to include non-fungible tokens (NFTs). In its first NFT-enforcement action, the SEC settled with Impact Theory, a media and entertainment company, over...more
9/5/2023
/ Crypto Exchanges ,
Cryptoassets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Ethereum ,
Howey ,
Investment Contract ,
Investment Opportunities ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Offerings ,
Popular ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Securities Transactions ,
Securities Violations ,
Unregistered Securities
Summary -
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is reportedly nearing a settlement with a nationally recognized statistical rating organization (NRSRO) over its failure to preserve certain credit-ratings...more
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Just when it looked like a victory for the crypto industry in SEC v. Ripple, a mere two weeks later, a different judge in the Southern District of New York disagreed with Ripple’s holding, introducing greater...more
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Two more broker-dealers became the latest financial institutions to settle with the SEC for failing to maintain and preserve electronic communications. What distinguishes these settlements from the 17 prior...more
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The past week was a busy one in the cryptocurrency sphere: The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) proposed new standards for crypto assets, and the SEC released an alert urging investors to remain...more
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In the wake of the Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) collapse, questions loom about the role of social media in the bank’s demise. The federal government will devote significant resources to investigate what went...more
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The recently unsealed indictment of health care company Ontrak for insider trading marks the first criminal prosecution alleging an executive’s fraudulent use of a 10b5-1 trading plan to facilitate unlawful...more
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A proposal by the Securities and Exchange Commission to amend Rule 10b5-1, as well as recent enforcement activity relating to these plans, suggest that the SEC is concerned that the rule has been used as cover...more
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The SEC this week adopted new rules that will require publicly traded companies to “claw back” incentive-based executive compensation that a company awarded to the executive based on materially misreported...more
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Section 21F of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the Exchange Act) governs the Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC or the Commission) whistleblower program, which pays awards to eligible whistleblowers...more
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The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission this week published its 2022 Examination Priorities report. This year, the SEC’s Division of Examinations plans to prioritize scrutiny of Private Funds; Environmental,...more
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The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) this week released its annual Congressional Budget Justification. The agency is seeking a budget of $2.15 billion for FY 2023, which is almost $240 million more than...more
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) brought actions against SpaceX engineer James Roland Jones for selling insider information on what’s known as the dark web....more
Today, the SEC sent a very clear signal about one of its chief enforcement priorities by announcing the creation of a Climate and ESG Task Force within the Division of Enforcement. ESG stands for Environmental, Social, and...more
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The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced today that it has settled its case against The Cheesecake Factory charging the national restaurant chain with providing misleading disclosures in filings—the...more
In an historic move this week, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ) executed the first-ever memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the two agencies. ...more
With significant government intervention comes significant government oversight. That is the message coming from Capitol Hill and the Executive Branch concerning the Payroll Protection Program (PPP), a Small Business...more
4/25/2020
/ CARES Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Federal Loans ,
Financial Stimulus ,
Fraud ,
Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Relief Measures ,
SBA ,
SBA Lending Programs ,
Small Business
COVID-19 has upended every corner of the financial markets, including the disclosure regime for publicly traded companies. Over the last few weeks, the number of disclosures relating to COVID-19 has exploded, with as many...more
The stock markets’ volatility in the era of the COVID-19 pandemic is one of the virus’ largest impacts. With that in mind, the SEC recently made clear that timely disclosure of significant financial and non-financial issues...more
COVID-19 has injected significant uncertainty into our daily lives and enormous volatility into our markets. In the last two weeks alone, many major domestic and international indices have experienced their largest daily...more
3/31/2020
/ 10b5-1 Plans ,
Business Disruption ,
Confidential Information ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Financial Markets ,
Form 8-K ,
Insider Trading ,
Non-Public Information ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Securities Regulation ,
Stock Prices ,
White Collar Crimes
As the federal government responds to the coronavirus pandemic, its purchases of goods and services are increasing. Organizations that compete for government contracts and program funding should be prepared for increased...more
3/23/2020
/ Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Investigations ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Bid Rigging ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
FBI ,
Federal Procurement Systems ,
Fraudulent Procurement ,
Procurement Collusion Strike Force ,
USPS
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced yesterday, August 20, 2019, that it charged TherapeuticsMD, Inc., a pharmaceutical company headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida, with violations of...more
8/21/2019
/ Disclosure Requirements ,
Enforcement Actions ,
FDA Approval ,
Financial Markets ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Insider Trading ,
Non-Public Information ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulation FD ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Securities Violations ,
Stock Prices