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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

SEC COVID Investigations

Any firm marketing COVID related services, or that has applied for or obtained benefits under recently enacted legislation tied to the virus, should carefully examine their activities in this area in view of the regulatory...more

The First OCIE Inspection of Brokers Re Regulation Best Interest

Regulation Best Interest, born of a long debate over the appropriate standard to govern recommendations by broker-dealers, is now the subject of an OCIE Risk Alert.  The staff is preparing to launch its first inspection for...more

OCIE, Form CRS and Inspections

Inspections for compliance with Form CRS and its rules will begin after the June 30, 2020 filing date, according to an OCIE Risk Alert dated April 7, 2020. The Alert identifies key areas the staff will be examining regarding...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 Takes Targeted Action to Assist Funds and Advisers, Permits Virtual Board Meetings and Provides Conditional Relief from...

On March 13, 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), indicating that it is closely monitoring the impact of coronavirus on investors, funds and advisers, announced regulatory relief for funds and investment...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

Cybersecurity: Key Considerations Developed by OCIE

The SEC’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations published a series of observations gleaned from thousands of exams over a period of years. While OCIE’s charge is the inspection of certain SEC registrants the...more

SEC Exam Priorities For RIAs and ICs

The Exam Priorities of the SEC’s Office of Inspections and Compliance or OCIE, announced on January 7, 2020 (the “Exam Priorities”), should be a key area of focus for every investment advisor and investment company. The Exam...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

The Markets and Bigger, Faster, Stronger

A key focus of SEC enforcement has been the retail investor. To that end the Division formed a special unit to focus on cases tied to those investors. Numerous cases have been brought. That focus may also be at least in part...more

The DOJ, SEC, CFTC, FERC and Uneconomic Market Trading

Uneconomic trading in regulated markets is a key focus of market regulators such as the DOJ, SEC, CFTC and FERC. Traders at times, for example, take different positions in select markets which can result in losses in one...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

Crypto and the Regulators: Will the Revolution Get Rules?

Crypto currency began with the notion of getting “off the grid” – escaping the regulators and not being regulated. Over time that notion has transmuted. Now platforms trading crypto assets proclaim that the “revolution needs...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

Facilitating FCPA Enforcement Through International Cooperation

SEC Chairman Jay Clayton called for greater international cooperation in the enforcement of anti-corruption statutes such as the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in remarks delivered before the Economic Club of New York on...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

Second Circuit: Supreme Court’s McDonald Decision Does Not Delimit FCPA

The bribery provisions of Exchange Act Section 30A are one of the three critical components of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The other two are the books and records and the internal control requirements....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

DOJ and Compliance

The Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission have repeatedly focused on corporate compliance in recent years as a way to mitigate liability.  Neither the DOJ nor the SEC is about to recognize a...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

The SEC's National Exam Program 2019

The SEC's Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (“OCIE” or the “Office”) announced its 2019 Examination Priorities just before Christmas and the current Government partial-shutdown (here). While nonemergency...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

SEC Report on Internal Controls, Cyber-security

Cyber-security has become – or perhaps should be – a key area of concern for every enterprise. The risks are substantial for the firm, its shareholders, executives and customers as recent cases illustrate....more

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