The dust has settled on the 2020 election, and the Biden administration has begun pressing forward with its policy objectives. Critical to achieving such objectives is the Democrats’ control of both the House of...more
2/9/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Blockchain ,
Broken Windows ,
CFTC ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Digital Currency ,
Disgorgement ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
FinTech ,
Insider Trading ,
NDAA ,
Private Equity Funds ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Statute of Limitations ,
Wall Street ,
Whistleblower Awards ,
Whistleblowers
The government cannot take action against abuses of the various aid programs associated with the CARES Act without first identifying abuses. In a recent round of inquiries, FINRA sent requests to numerous individuals it has...more
The government cannot take action against abuses of the various aid programs associated with the CARES Act without first identifying abuses. In a recent round of inquiries, FINRA sent requests to numerous individuals it has...more
The Securities and Exchange Commission’s disgorgement powers have made legal headlines a couple of times over the last few years – most notably, with the U.S. Supreme Court’s decisions in Kokesh v. SEC, 137 S. Ct. 1635 (2017)...more
1/7/2021
/ Disgorgement ,
Forfeiture ,
Kokesh v SEC ,
Liu v Securities and Exchange Commission ,
NDAA ,
Penalties ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities Act of 1933 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ,
Statute of Limitations
Earlier this week, a near-unanimous United States Supreme Court issued its much anticipated ruling on the SEC’s ability to obtain disgorgement of ill-gotten gains in cases involving securities fraud, FCPA violations, and...more
6/26/2020
/ 15 U.S.C. § 78u(d)(5) ,
Administrative Authority ,
Business Expenses ,
Calculation of Damages ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Disgorgement ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Equitable Relief ,
Kokesh v SEC ,
Lack of Authority ,
Liu v Securities and Exchange Commission ,
Net Profits ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
Today the SEC announced that it has charged Swanson with his second-least-favorite thing: lying in the form of securities fraud. The SEC alleges that Ronald D. Swanson, the former chief executive officer and general counsel...more
In sports, it is often said that “winning cures everything.” The same concept applies to uncovering fraud. When the economy is strong and most investors are making money, there is little incentive to ask difficult questions...more
Hollywood martial arts sensei Steven Seagal was recently karate-chopped by the SEC for his alleged undisclosed payments for Twitter-touting a security that was being offered and sold in an initial coin offering. In a settled...more
2/28/2020
/ Bitcoin ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Cease and Desist Orders ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Currency ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Ethereum ,
Failure To Disclose ,
Financial Promotions ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Investment Contract ,
Investors ,
Popular ,
Securities Act of 1933 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Violations ,
Token Sales
The Fifth Circuit overturned a U.S. District Court’s approval of a settlement between Ralph Janvey, the Receiver for Stanford International Bank, and various insurance company Underwriters, under which the Underwriters had...more
6/27/2019
/ Abuse of Discretion ,
Appeals ,
Co-Insured Issues ,
Fraud ,
In Rem Jurisdiction ,
Insurance Code ,
Insurance Industry ,
Jurisdiction ,
Ponzi Scheme ,
Receivership ,
Reversal ,
Settlement ,
Third-Party ,
Underwriting
A former broker at a national brokerage firm was recently sanctioned by FINRA after accepting instructions to transfer assets out of a client account. The problem? The instructions were actually sent by an imposter who had...more
On September 28, 2018, the U.S. Congress passed an appropriations bill that extended the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program (the “EB-5 Program”) in its current form through December 7, 2018. Thus, the EB-5 Program will expire on...more