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Federal Enforcement Forum: SEC Enforcement Statistics FY 2022

The Commission filed its annual tabulation of Enforcement statistics in a Release dated November 15, 2022 (here). The array of statistic compiled in FY 2022 provides insight into the work of the Enforcement Division over the...more

Complex Products: In Need of A Solution

​​​​​​​Complex financial products continue to present difficult issues for the Commission. In many instances the products involved are so complex that is may be questionable if any amount of policies, procedures and...more

SEC Enforcement: A Brief Review of 1Q22

Analyzing the trends of SEC enforcement is key for many companies, particularly when evaluating their compliance systems. The work of the Enforcement Division during the first quarter of 2022 should be considered in the...more

SEC Enforcement: A Review of 3Q21

The new Director of the Enforcement Division, Gurbir Grewal, assumed his position during the Third Quarter of 2021. Even if he hits the ground running it typically takes time to adjust to the environment. ...more

Insider Trading: Leveraging Inside Information

Insider trading is generally viewed through one of two lenses. The first is the classic model. There a company insider learns information which constitutes material non-public information about his or her employer and either...more

Avoiding that Subpoena: Large Trends; Mini-Trends

Tracking the key areas of concern to SEC enforcement can be beneficial for issuers, investment advisers and others that may be subject to scrutiny by the Commission. For example, identifying key areas of focus by determining...more

SEC Enforcement: The Fourth Quarter of 2020

The fourth quarter of calendar year 2020 continued trends evidenced in the third quarter of the year, although far fewer cases were initiated. There were actions brought in a number of key areas such as offering fraud cases,...more

The SEC Enforcement Report: Working Through Adversity

The Division of Enforcement published its 2020 Annual Report on November 2, 2020 (here). The Report contains the now familiar sections: A Message from the Director keyed to highlights; a review and discussion of key areas of...more

SEC Enforcement’s Third Quarter: More Cases, Broader Reach

The Commission frequently increases the rate at enforcement actions are filed in advance of the September 30th fiscal year end. That fiscal year end is followed by Congressional budget hearings where statistics are at least...more

SEC Disgorgement Curtailed By Supreme Court

The ruling: The Supreme Court significantly limited the SEC’s ability to seek disgorgement. Specifically, the Court held that any award must be limited to the wrongdoer’s “net profits” and be awarded “for victims.”...more

The SEC’s First Quarter: A Review

The first quarter of 2020 ended with the markets plummeting to new lows and much of the country shuttered in an effort to avoid transmitting COVID-19.  SEC Enforcement finished the quarter by not filing any new cases in the...more

SEC Disgorgement: Who Gets the Money?

Liu v. SEC, No. 18-15-1, argued before the Court last week, is potentially one of the most important cases to be heard by the Supreme Court on SEC Enforcement. The question under consideration is whether the Securities and...more

The CFTC Annual Enforcement Report

The CFTC Division of Enforcement filed its Third Annual Report at the end of November 2019, reviewing the fiscal year. The Report is the typical mixture of goals, statistics, analysis and initiatives. Overall it offers...more

SEC Enforcement Statistics From Cornerstone and NYU

Earlier this year the SEC’s Enforcement Division published its annual report, reviewing FY 2019 which ended on September 30, 2019. As in the past, the Report reviewed not just the statistics from the year but also the entire...more

Remedies in SEC Enforcement Actions: The End of Disgorgement?

The Supreme Court granted certiorari in a case that may well have a very significant impact on the remedies available in Commission enforcement actions: Liu v. Securities and Exchange Commission, No. 18-1501 (Cert. granted...more

SEC Injunctions: A New Standard?

The remedy of choice for the SEC Enforcement Division has always been the statutory injunction. For many years  the only remedy available to the Division was the obey-the-law statutory injunction....more

SEC Files First Reg FD Action In Years

Regulation Fair Disclosure was passed in 2002 to fill what many saw as a regulatory gap – the selective disclosure of material non-public information by issuers.  Essentially the Regulation – now known as Reg FD – requires a...more

The CFTC’s Expanded Reach

Traditionally the jurisdiction of the CFTC has been tied to the futures markets.  Contracts for future delivery were within the reach of the agency and its regulatory regime....more

How To Get Your Crypto Currency Offering Enjoined

Crypto currency has been all the fashion. Most proponents that have been confronted by a regulator – the SEC or CFTC generally – have quickly resolved the matter. Few have tried to litigate with the agencies and those who...more

Trading In Opaque Markets: The Need For Compliance

Individual responsibility and accountability became a critical issue in the wake of the great financial crisis. From Capitol Hill to the cross-streets of small-town America it frequently seemed that the question of the day...more

The FCPA and Foreign Nationals

Despite the fact that the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act has been in force for decades there is relatively little case law interpreting its provisions. A great deal of the existing interpretation of the Act stems from...more

SEC Enforcement after Kokesh and Cohen

The remedies the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) can seek in its enforcement actions are a critical question in the wake of the Kokesh v. SEC, 137 S.Ct. 1635 (2017) and SEC v. Cohen, Civil Action No. 17-cv-430...more

Can the SEC Eradicate The Distinction Between Primary and Secondary Liability?

“The distinction between primary and secondary liability matters...For decades...the SEC has tried to erase that distinction...” Lorenzo v. SEC, 872 F. 3d 578, 601 (D.C. Cir. 2017) (Kavenaugh, Circuit Judge,...more

Virtual Currencies, the Regulators and the Future

Virtual currencies have risen from a little known tech curiosity to what some see as the next great investment opportunity in contrast to others who see little but fraud. An alphabet soup of regulators are struggling to apply...more

SEC Targets Advisers With New Cooperation Initiative

The SEC’s Division of Enforcement announced a new cooperation initiative addressed to investment advisers who have failed to disclose conflicts arising from the receipt of 12b-1 fees from mutual funds. In essence, the...more

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