The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) continues to investigate companies for including language in their employment and separation agreements or retail client settlement agreements that potentially discourages...more
9/18/2024
/ Broker-Dealer ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Employees ,
Employment Contract ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Markets ,
Government Agencies ,
Investment Adviser ,
Popular ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Violations ,
Separation Agreement ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Whistleblower Awards ,
Whistleblower Protection Policies ,
Whistleblowers
The SEC has begun to bring enforcement actions against companies whose employment and client agreements could appear to infringe on the right to report cases in violation of Section 21f-17(a) of the Exchange Act. On September...more
9/16/2024
/ Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Securities Violations ,
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
Summary -
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
Summary -
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
Summary -
An opinion about a category of unprotected speech called “true threats” sheds light on how a majority of the justices may view New York Times v. Sullivan, a key defamation case. It also resolves a split over the...more
6/30/2023
/ Actual Malice ,
Colorado ,
Counterman v Colorado ,
Defamation ,
Electronic Communications ,
Facebook ,
First Amendment ,
Free Speech ,
New York Times ,
New York Times v Sullivan ,
Objective Standard ,
SCOTUS ,
Social Media ,
Stalking ,
Threat Management
Summary -
On June 1, 2023, the Supreme Court issued a landmark decision in False Claims Act cases. In United States ex rel. Schutte v. SuperValu Inc., it unanimously held that liability under the False Claims Act depends...more
6/20/2023
/ Drug Pricing ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Healthcare ,
Medicaid ,
Medicare ,
Pharmacies ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Reimbursements ,
Safeco Insurance Co of America v Burr ,
SCOTUS ,
US ex rel Tracy Schutte et al v SuperValu Inc et al ,
Whistleblowers
Summary -
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
Summary -
The U.S. Department of Justice issued a revised policy for Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs (ECCP), with new guidance on how the DOJ will consider corporate procedures for employees’ business-related...more
Summary -
Top U.S. Department of Justice officials announced the DOJ’s first-ever pilot program on corporate compensation incentives and clawbacks, as well as new policies on preservation of corporate communications, at...more
Summary -
The Department of Justice recently fine-tuned and codified the United States Attorney’s Offices (USAO) Voluntary Self-Disclosure Policy (VSD Policy), defining what actually constitutes voluntary self-disclosure,...more
Summary -
The Department of Justice (DOJ) last week issued revisions to the Criminal Division’s Corporate Enforcement Policy that incentivize companies to promptly self-disclose corporate misconduct, cooperate with the DOJ,...more
Summary -
On September 30, 2022, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), a unit of the U.S. Department of Treasury, issued its final rule, Beneficial Ownership Information Reporting Requirements (Final Rule),...more
Second Post in a Two-Post Series on the CTA Implementing Regulations -
As we just blogged, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) has issued a final rule (“Final Rule”) regarding the beneficial ownership...more
First Post in a Two-Post Series on the CTA Implementing Regulations -
On September 30, 2022, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) issued its final rule, Beneficial Ownership Information Reporting...more
Summary -
A new memorandum from Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, released on September 15 (Memorandum), represents one of the most comprehensive updates in years to the approach of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) in...more
Summary -
On June 1, 2022, New York’s Cannabis Control Board approved regulations related to advertising, packaging, and laboratory testing of legal adult-use cannabis to be sold in the state. Those regulations contain...more
As we initially blogged, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) issued on December 7 a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NPRM”) regarding the beneficial ownership (“BO”) reporting requirements of the Corporate...more
Last week, the Biden Administration unveiled a sweeping “whole-of-government approach” to combating corruption. Identifying corruption as a “cancer within the body of societies—a disease that eats at the public trust and the...more
On December 6, FinCEN announced that it was issuing an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“AMPRM”) to solicit public comment on potential requirements under the Bank Secrecy Act (“BSA”) for certain persons involved in...more
12/14/2021
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
Banking Sector ,
Banks ,
BSA/AML ,
Comment Period ,
Financial Institutions ,
FinCEN ,
Money Laundering ,
Popular ,
Real Estate Market ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs)
Yesterday, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NPRM”) regarding the beneficial ownership reporting requirements of the Corporate Transparency Act (“CTA”), which...more