The U.S. Department of Justice ("DOJ") won at trial in its first insider trading prosecution against an executive based exclusively on his sales of stock under 10b5-1 trading plans....more
The Development: On April 15, 2024, the Department of Justice ("DOJ") Criminal Division announced a pilot program that will offer mandatory non-prosecution agreements ("NPAs") to individuals who provide original and...more
The Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") won at trial in its first "shadow trading" case, holding a corporate official liable for insider trading for using nonpublic information about his company's acquisition to trade...more
4/19/2024
/ Acquisition Agreements ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Insider Trading ,
Material Nonpublic Information ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Litigation ,
Securities Regulation ,
Securities Violations ,
Third-Party
The Second Circuit recently revived a securities class action against the crypto exchange Binance Holdings Ltd., holding that plaintiffs plausibly alleged their transactions on the exchange were "domestic," as required by the...more
The Development: On March 7, 2024, Deputy Attorney General ("DAG") Lisa Monaco discussed updates to the Department of Justice's ("DOJ" or "Department") corporate criminal enforcement policies and announced a pilot program...more
3/14/2024
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
CFTC ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Guidance ,
Federal Pilot Programs ,
Money Laundering ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Whistleblower Awards ,
Whistleblowers ,
White Collar Crimes
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
On January 30, 2024, the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") denied a Petition for Rulemaking to amend SEC Rule 202.5(e), known as the SEC's "no-admit/no-deny" rule or, more pejoratively, the "gag rule."...more
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
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 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
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
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
The Court held that the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act ("FSIA") does not apply to criminal prosecutions, but left open the possibility that instrumentalities of foreign states may have common law immunity from prosecution....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: 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: In October 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice ("DOJ" or "Department") announced a guilty plea in its first-ever corporate "material support" prosecution under 18 U.S.C. § 2339B of the...more
In Short -
The Situation: On September 15, 2022, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco announced significant changes and updates to the Department of Justice's corporate criminal enforcement policies. ...more
On May 18, 2022, the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled that key aspects of the SEC's in-house enforcement regime for securities fraud cases were unconstitutional. The decision, Jarkesy v. SEC, has significant...more
5/23/2022
/ Adjudicatory Process ,
Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Administrative Proceedings ,
Appeals ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Enforcement Authority ,
Lack of Authority ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Fraud ,
Securities Violations
The SEC's Enforcement Action Against Ripple -
In December 2020, the SEC commenced an enforcement action against Ripple and two of its senior executives alleging that the defendants violated Section 5 of the Securities Act...more
4/1/2022
/ Aiding and Abetting ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Extraterritoriality Rules ,
Fair-Notice Standard ,
Financial Markets ,
Investment ,
Ripple ,
Section 5 ,
Securities Act of 1933 ,
Securities Litigation ,
Securities Transactions ,
Securities Violations ,
Unregistered Securities
The SEC's Enforcement Action Against Ripple -
In December 2020, the SEC commenced an enforcement action against Ripple and two of its senior executives alleging that the defendants violated Section 5 of the Securities Act of...more
3/23/2022
/ Aiding and Abetting ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Fair-Notice Standard ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Investment ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Motion To Strike ,
Popular ,
Section 5 ,
Securities Act of 1933 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Transactions ,
Securities Violations ,
Unregistered Securities
The Biden administration took office in January 2021, announcing aggressive and sweeping anticorruption initiatives to tackle corruption around the world, labeling corruption a national security priority, and signaling a...more
1/28/2022
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Biden Administration ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
National Security ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Whistleblowers ,
White Collar Crimes
CFTC Commissioner asserts that Decentralized Finance ("DeFi") likely violates the Commodity Exchange Act ("CEA") and that the regulator should respond accordingly.
DeFi is an umbrella term encompassing a range of...more
U.S. criminal law has a long reach outside the borders of the United States. Australian companies and individuals whose activities touch on the United States—even without having offices or any physical presence in the United...more
6/4/2021
/ Australia ,
Australian Securities and Investments Commission ,
Corporate Crimes ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Evidence ,
Extradition ,
Law Enforcement ,
Legal Professional Privilege ,
Mutual Legal Assistance Treaties (MLAT) ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
White Collar Crimes