We are pleased to share with you our latest publication, “Navigating Change: First 100 Days under the Trump Administration,” authored by our Digital Assets + Blockchain team. This retrospective examines the pivotal...more
5/29/2025
/ Blockchain ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Executive Orders ,
FDIC ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
FinTech ,
Government Agencies ,
Investment Opportunities ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Securities Regulation ,
Trump Administration
In the recent Supreme Court case, Navellier & Associates, Inc. v. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the petitioners sought a writ of certiorari challenging the decisions of the lower courts regarding the scope of...more
5/16/2025
/ Appeals ,
Disgorgement ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Advisers Act of 1940 ,
Materiality ,
Petition for Writ of Certiorari ,
Registered Investment Advisors ,
Regulatory Violations ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Fraud ,
Securities Litigation ,
Securities Regulation
On April 1, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit vacated a summary judgment ruling in favor of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) against Commonwealth Equity Services, LLC, also known as Commonwealth...more
4/17/2025
/ Appeals ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Advisers Act of 1940 ,
Materiality ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Litigation ,
Securities Regulation ,
Securities Violations ,
Summary Judgment ,
Transaction Fees
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has reportedly announced internally a major reorganization of its enforcement and exams divisions. This restructuring, effective April 9, 2025, was detailed in a staff memo...more
4/8/2025
/ Cryptocurrency ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Enforcement Guidance ,
Enforcement Priorities ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Government Agencies ,
Regulatory Agencies ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
SEC Examination Priorities ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation
In a decision that resonates with many critics of mootness fees, a U.S. district judge for the Northern District of Illinois ordered counsel for Akorn Inc. shareholders to return $332,500 in attorneys’ fees extracted from a...more
In this episode of Crypto Exchange, Ethan Ostroff and Alexandra Barrage are joined by partners Joanna Cline and Jay Dubow to discuss the evolving landscape of the SEC's enforcement actions involving cryptocurrencies.
The...more
In a stated effort to provide greater clarity on the application of federal securities laws to “crypto assets,” the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Division of Corporation Finance has released its views on “meme...more
According to news sources, including Reuters, on Friday, February 21, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reportedly informed regional directors at its 10 regional offices that it plans to eliminate their roles...more
On Jan. 21, 2025, Mark T. Uyeda, the acting chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), announced the launch of a cryptocurrency task force. This task force, led by SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce, with...more
On January 17, the District of Columbia Circuit issued a pivotal opinion regarding the Fifth Amendment rights of a defendant-appellant compelled by the FBI to unlock his cellphone using his thumbprint. The D.C. Circuit’s...more
1/30/2025
/ Biometric Information ,
Cell Phones ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Consumer Privacy Rights ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Data Privacy ,
Data Protection ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Evidence ,
FBI ,
Fifth Amendment ,
Fingerprints ,
Personal Data
On November 22, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced its enforcement results for fiscal year (FY) 2024. As compared to FY 2023, the Division of Enforcement (the division) reported a 26% decline in the total...more
In late June, the staff of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Corporation Finance released five new compliance and disclosure interpretations regarding the disclosure of material cybersecurity incidents...more
12/2/2024
/ Cyber Attacks ,
Cyber Incident Reporting ,
Cyber Insurance ,
Cybersecurity ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Encryption ,
Form 8-K ,
Information Technology ,
Materiality ,
Ransomware ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Reputational Injury ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
On October 21, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Division of Examinations announced its 2025 examination priorities (2025 guidance) for registered investment advisers and investment companies, broker-dealers,...more
If you have not recently reviewed your company’s documents to ensure they comply with Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) whistleblower protection rules, you should put it at the top of your to-do list. On September 9,...more
On September 4, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued an order against three investment adviser firms for violating the whistleblower protections of Rule 21F-17(a) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. This...more
On June 27, the U.S. Supreme Court released a 6-3 decision in SEC v. Jarkesy, et al., ending the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) long-standing use of in-house administrative law judge (ALJ) tribunals in cases where...more
The Financial Industry Regulation Authority’s (FINRA) Enforcement Division recently announced a resolution to a nearly two-and-a-half-year investigation in which TradeZero America, Inc. (TradeZero) agreed to pay a fine of...more
On June 11, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced the first settled case in its ongoing review of collaborations between investment advisors and short publishers. The SEC fined affiliated investment advisors...more
On June 17, the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari in Nvidia Corp. v. E. Ohman J:or Fonder AB, agreeing to hear Nvidia’s appeal of a Ninth Circuit ruling that revived shareholders’ fraud claims regarding Nvidia’s...more
6/19/2024
/ Bitcoin Mining ,
Certiorari ,
Cryptocurrency ,
NVIDIA ,
Nvidia Corp v E Ohman J or Fonder AB ,
Petition for Writ of Certiorari ,
PSLRA ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ,
Securities Fraud ,
Securities Litigation
On April 12, in a long-awaited and pivotal decision, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled that private plaintiffs may not plead a federal securities fraud claim under Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934...more
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s (FINRA) Enforcement Division recently announced its first settlement involving a firm’s supervision of social media influencers. The respondent, M1 Finance LLC (M1), is a...more
On April 4, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a stay on the implementation of its newly enacted climate impact disclosure rules. This decision is connected to a challenge to the rules currently pending in...more
It was a busy year for enforcement activity in the cyber, crypto, SPAC, and whistleblower spaces, with several pending actions that will likely have wide-ranging implications in 2024. We are also awaiting a ruling from the...more
2/29/2024
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
CFTC ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Cybersecurity ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Financial Crimes ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinCEN ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs) ,
Whistleblowers
In a 2-1 opinion issued on February 14, 2024, an Eleventh Circuit panel partially reversed a lower court ruling that would have barred a defendant from participating in future penny-stock offerings. The majority found it was...more
On February 9, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced settlements with 16 firms relating to record-keeping violations stemming from off-channel communications totaling $81 million. The 16 firms were five...more
2/15/2024
/ Broker-Dealer ,
Electronic Communications ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Instant Messaging Apps ,
Investment Adviser ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Regular Business Communications ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Securities Violations ,
Text Messages