On March 14, 2023, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) issued a cease-and-desist order (the “Order”)1 and charged DXC Technology Company (“DXC”), an IT company based in Virginia, with violations of Rule 100(b) of...more
Over the last several weeks, federal regulators and prosecutors have sent a strong signal to company executives that they will be using every tool in their arsenal to combat insider trading. The government’s crackdown has...more
After a rash of significant cybersecurity breaches and ransomware attacks affecting a wide set of industries, ranging from pipelines to technology companies, the Biden administration released its much-anticipated National...more
On February 22, 2023, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) issued a cease-and-desist order (the “Order”) charging African Gold Acquisition Corp. (“African Gold”) with multiple violations of the Securities Exchange...more
The Supreme Court of Illinois recently held that use of a fingerprint system by White Castle, Inc. (“White Castle”) to authenticate employees, without the consent of the employees, entailed multiple violations of the Illinois...more
On January 9, 2023, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) issued a cease-and-desist order (the “Order”)1 charging McDonald’s Corporation (“McDonald’s”) and its ex-CEO, Stephen Easterbrook, with multiple disclosure...more
1/25/2023
/ Breach of Duty ,
Cease and Desist Orders ,
CEOs ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Compensation ,
Disclosure ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Executive Compensation ,
Failure To Disclose ,
Fraternization Policies ,
Internal Investigations ,
McDonalds ,
Principal Executive Officer ,
Proxy Statements ,
Regulation S-K ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Separation Agreement ,
Termination for Cause
Epic Games, Inc. (“Epic”) agreed to pay a combined $520 million in two “record-breaking settlements” on Monday. The settlements resolve alleged violations of both the Federal Trade Commission Act (the “FTC Act”) and the...more
On November 15, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced its 2022 enforcement statistics. Notable amongst the data was the news that the SEC had filed 760 total enforcement actions in fiscal year 2022, a...more
On October 12, 2022, New York Attorney General Letitia James fined Zoetop Business Company, Ltd. (“Zoetop”), the owner of fast-fashion brands SHEIN and ROMWE, $1.9 million for mishandling a 2018 data breach and lying to the...more
On October 18, 2022, the Transportation Security Administration (“TSA”) issued its Security Directive 1580/82-2022-01 on Rail Cybersecurity Mitigation Actions and Testing (the “Railroad Directive”), regulating designated...more
On September 21, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced the settlement of insider trading charges against the CEO of Cheetah Mobile Inc. (“Cheetah”) and the company’s former president....more
The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit recently held that a plaintiff had standing to sue her former employer for a data breach that exposed her personal information to the “Dark Web” because she...more
In a recent Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) enforcement action, the SEC concluded that a registered broker-dealer and investment adviser (the “Firm”) violated Rule 30 of Regulation S-P by failing to adopt...more
It has been over a year since the Colonial Pipeline cybersecurity incident, and the Department of Homeland Security’s Transportation Security Administration (“TSA”) continues to issue cybersecurity directives to owners and...more
8/23/2022
/ Cyber Incident Reporting ,
Cybersecurity ,
Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA) ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Information Technology ,
Multi-Factor Authentication ,
Oil & Gas ,
Pipelines ,
Risk Assessment ,
TSA
On March 9, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced Proposed Rules on cybersecurity risk management, strategy, governance, and incident disclosure (“Proposed Rules”) to address concerns of increasing...more
On May 6, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced a $5.5 million settlement of charges against NVIDIA Corporation (“NVIDIA”) for allegedly failing to adequately disclose in the Management’s Discussion...more
On April 18, 2021, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced the fourth enforcement action arising from its EPS Initiative, charging Rollins Inc. (“Rollins”) and its former chief financial officer (“CFO”) with...more
On March 9, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced Proposed Rules on cybersecurity risk management, strategy, governance, and incident disclosure (“Proposed Rules”) to address concerns of increasing...more
The Department of Justice, acting on behalf of the Federal Trade Commission, recently took action against WW International, Inc., formerly known as Weight Watchers, and its subsidiary, Kurbo, Inc. (together, “Weight...more
On March 9, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“Commission”) issued its much-anticipated proposed rule amendments which would mandate certain cybersecurity disclosures for public companies (“Proposed Rules”)....more
The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) recently issued its annual enforcement report, which analyzes enforcement patterns and emerging priorities in the fiscal year (“FY”) ending September 30, 2021. Challenges born in...more
Earlier this week, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced a $125 million settlement of charges against Nikola Corporation (“Nikola”), a publicly-traded company created through a special purpose acquisition...more
12/22/2021
/ Cease and Desist Orders ,
Compliance Monitoring ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Disclosure ,
Enforcement ,
Instagram ,
Intent to Defraud ,
Misrepresentation ,
Podcasts ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Social Media ,
Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs) ,
Twitter
On July 30, 2021, Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) Chair Gary Gensler issued a public statement announcing that he has asked SEC staff to require additional disclosures from offshore issuers with ties to China-based...more
On July 13, 2021, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced one of its first securities fraud enforcement actions against a Special Purpose Acquisition Company, or SPAC, called Stable Road Acquisition Corp....more
A recent Fifth Circuit decision, United States v. Nora,1 reversed a clerical employee’s convictions for conspiring to commit health care fraud, conspiring to pay or receive illegal health care kickbacks, and aiding and...more