New conditions to the availability of the affirmative defense under the Rule 10b5-1(c)(1), including a cooling-off period before trading can begin for directors, officers, and other persons (other than issuers) -
New...more
The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) released an annual summary, on November 15, 2022, of actions brought by the Division of Enforcement (“Division”) over fiscal year 2022 (“Enforcement Summary”), providing an...more
12/13/2022
/ Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Climate Change ,
Cryptoassets ,
Cybersecurity ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Disgorgement ,
Enforcement ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Fraud ,
Penalties ,
Private Funds ,
Sarbanes-Oxley ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs) ,
Whistleblowers
As expected, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission released two significant rule proposals for issuers on December 15, 2021—one regarding issuer share repurchases and the other regarding issuer and director and officer...more
The Enforcement Division of the Securities and Exchange Commission (Division) released its Annual Report on November 2, 2020, providing information concerning its activities over the past fiscal year and outlining key...more
11/23/2020
/ American Depository Receipts (ADRs) ,
Annual Reports ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Disgorgement ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Enforcement Statistics ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Kokesh v SEC ,
Liu v Securities and Exchange Commission ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Violations ,
Steering Committees ,
Trading Suspension ,
Whistleblowers
Especially in today’s economic and work environment, we find it helpful – and we therefore thought our clients would also find it helpful – to keep track of the important litigation and regulatory enforcement developments...more
6/11/2020
/ Asset Management ,
Class Action ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Investment ,
Proxy Materials ,
Regulation Best Interest ,
Section 36(b) ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Fraud ,
Securities Litigation
Especially in today’s economic and work environment, we find it helpful – and we therefore thought our clients would also find it helpful – to keep track of the important litigation and regulatory enforcement developments...more
5/27/2020
/ Asset Management ,
CARES Act ,
Clawbacks ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Exchange-Traded Products ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Fraud ,
Fraudulent Conveyance ,
Investment Management ,
Oil & Gas ,
Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Section 36(b) ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Fraud ,
Securities Litigation ,
Shareholder Litigation
Key Takeaways -
The COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak has undoubtedly increased firms’ exposure to market abuse risks in a number of ways:
Due to the rapidly changing consequences of restrictions caused by COVID-19 for...more
4/7/2020
/ Business Continuity Plans ,
Compliance ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Global Market ,
Hong Kong ,
Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (HKSFC) ,
Hong Kong Stock Exchange ,
Insider Information ,
Liquidity ,
Market Abuse ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Remote Working ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
SEHK ,
UK ,
United States
The CFTC’s Division of Enforcement (Division) released its Annual Report on November 25, 2019, summarizing the Division’s activities over the past year.1 In FY 2019, the CFTC filed 69 enforcement actions, down from 83 in FY...more
12/16/2019
/ Annual Reports ,
Bitcoin ,
CFTC ,
CFTC Enforcement Manual ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Commodities ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Customer Protection Rule ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Derivatives ,
Disgorgement ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Enforcement Statistics ,
False Reporting ,
Fraud ,
Individual Accountability ,
Integrity Policies ,
Investor Protection ,
Market Manipulation ,
Risk Management ,
Self-Reporting ,
Spoofing ,
Swaps ,
Whistleblowers
On November 2, 2018, the SEC Enforcement Division (“Division”) released its Annual Report summarizing the past year’s enforcement activity. In the 2018 fiscal year, the first full fiscal year that Stephanie Avakian and Steven...more
12/7/2018
/ Annual Reports ,
CEOs ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Cyber Crimes ,
Cybersecurity ,
Digital Assets ,
Digital Currency ,
Disgorgement ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Investor Protection ,
Personal Liability ,
Popular ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Retail Investors ,
Securities ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Self-Reporting ,
Share Class Selection Disclosure Initiative (SCSD)
The U.S. Supreme Court recently held, in Lucia v. SEC,1 that Administrative Law Judges (ALJs) for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC or Commission) are officers of the United States who must be appointed...more
6/28/2018
/ Administrative Agencies ,
Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Administrative Proceedings ,
Appeals ,
Appointments Clause ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Final Written Decisions ,
Lucia v SEC ,
Officers of the United States ,
Remand ,
Reversal ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Violations ,
Special Trial Judges (STJs)
Stephanie Avakian and Steven Peikin, the new Co-Directors of the U.S. SEC Enforcement Division (“Division”), released a report on November 15, 2017, summarizing the Division’s enforcement activity for the fiscal year ending...more
11/29/2017
/ Anti-Retaliation Provisions ,
Asset Freeze ,
Cybersecurity ,
Disgorgement ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Excessive Fees ,
Fraud ,
Investor Protection ,
Investors ,
Penalties ,
Ponzi Scheme ,
Pump and Dump ,
Retail Market ,
Sanctions ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Whistleblowers
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
6/20/2014
/ Appeals ,
Chevron Deference ,
Citigroup ,
Consent Decrees ,
Enforcement ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Interlocutory Appeals ,
Judge Rakoff ,
Mary Jo White ,
Risk Management ,
SEC v Citigroup ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Vacated