A Ninth Circuit Panel held that a GPS location tack generated out of court on a Google-Maps satellite image is not hearsay under the Federal Rules of Evidence.
In an immigration prosecution, the location of the arrest...more
In a strongly-worded public statement last week, SEC Commissioner Gallagher chided the Commission for “cutting off the noses of CCO’s to spite its face.” Explaining his dissent in two recent enforcement actions imposing...more
The Securities Exchange Commission announced June 18 the first major wave of underwriter sanctions under its Municipalities Continuing Disclosure Cooperation (“MCDC”) Initiative. The SEC sanctioned 36 municipal underwriting...more
6/22/2015
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Underwriting
In a ruling that may signal the end to much of the litigation over mortgage-backed securities, New York’s highest court held limitations for breach of warranty litigation over portfolio loans run from the MLSA closing date...more
On June 5, the Tennessee Supreme Court rejected a per se rule of unconscionability for non-mutual arbitration clauses, holding them enforceable if not too-one-sided and commercially reasonable under the...more
For over a year, critics have questioned the fundamental fairness of the SEC’s administrative forum, including whether the Agency should act as prosecutor, judge and jury. Even as criticisms mount, the Commission Staff...more
The Sixth Circuit this week rejected the “definitively and specifically” standard that had required a Sarbanes-Oxley whistleblower’s “reasonable belief” to closely track each element of the legal cause of action for the fraud...more
6/1/2015
On April 29, 2015, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) narrowly approved proposed rules requiring certain reporting companies to disclose the relationship between pay to named executive officers and performance by...more
In an opinion Thursday, the Delaware Supreme Court held that independent directors should be dismissed from shareholder derivative litigation – even over transactions presumptively subject to “entire fairness” review – unless...more
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s disciplinary appellate body (the National Adjudicatory Council or NAC) has revised the Sanction Guidelines used to determine penalties in enforcement cases. The revisions increase...more
The SEC confirmed Friday that it may choose to be prosecutor, judge and jury in novel cases where it thinks it knows best and can urge Chevron deference when others seek judicial review....more
Earlier this week, the SEC approved a whistleblower award of between $1.4-1.6 million to a compliance officer. Ordinarily, the Commission will not consider information to be “derived from [a whistleblower’s] independent...more
The MSRB recently released a content outline for the new Series 50 Municipal Advisor Representative examination, which the SEC approved in principle earlier this year. See MSRB Reg. Notice 2015-06. The MSRB filed the Rule...more
The “boomer bulge” in the US aging demographic, combined with a persistent low-interest-rate environment, leads regulators to renew their warnings about retail sales of complex investment products to older investors....more
The MSRB filed its Municipal-Advisor conduct rule proposal with the SEC on April 15. The Rule G-42 proposal has been around the block twice, since the Board first floated it in January last year (Reg. Notice 2014-01). The...more
We’ve all done it: Read the docket description in the notice of electronic filing (“NEF”) and have your paralegal download the order and add it to the pleadings file. But you have to read the order: The clerk’s...more
Not April Fool’s for one public-company registrant, as the SEC filed its first settled action today over corporate confidentiality provisions that run afoul of Dodd-Frank whistleblower protections. The clause in question was...more
SEC Chair Mary Jo White said Tuesday that the SEC needs to move forward on a uniform fiduciary standard for the financial industry, including brokers. Addressing the annual meeting of the Securities Industry and Financial...more
Addressing the annual meeting of the Compliance & Legal Division of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara stressed the importance of industry compliance and legal...more
The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that the SEC is in the midst of a sweep to crack down on companies’ use of NDAs or employment agreements that might impede whistleblower reporting in violation of Dodd-Frank...more
Addressing SIFMA’s Anti-Money Laundering (“AML”) conference Wednesday, SEC Enforcement Director Andrew Ceresney said that – when it comes to AML – the lack of red flags itself is a red flag....more
Gulf fisherman John Yates was cited by a federally-deputized Florida Fish & Wildlife officer for having caught a few red grouper that were about an inch under the 20” minimum limit at the time (they’d have been legal under...more
In an address Friday at the 44th annual “SEC Speaks” conference, SEC Commissioner Michael Piwowar suggested that the Securities Exchange Commission might do well to apply its own rules to itself. He suggested the Commission...more
In a brief filed last week, the SEC urged the D.C. Circuit to give Chevron deference to the Commission’s unnecessary conclusion that Congress’s 180-day enforcement deadline doesn’t matter. The conclusion is consistent with...more
FINRA Dispute Resolution filed with the SEC a proposed change to Code of Arbitration Rules 12214 and 12601 (and industry Rules 13214 and 13601) to increase late cancellation fees from $100 to $600 per arbitrator and expand...more