On May 23, 2024, the Securities Enforcement Forum West debuted its first-ever panel on the impact of artificial intelligence (“AI”) on securities enforcement, regulation, compliance, and practice, signaling an increased focus...more
Katten recently hosted an interesting and insightful panel discussion on the latest market abuse trends in the UK and US. The session was presented Katten Financial Markets Regulatory Partner Neil Robson alongside RQC Group’s...more
On May 23, 2023, Rahul Kohlhatkar, Assistant Regional Director in the Division of Enforcement at the San Francisco Regional Office of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), shared the stage with a group of...more
The Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) has banned and fined three bond traders for placing large-sized orders for future contracts in relation to Italian government bonds that they did not intend to execute, while...more
The Enforcement Division of the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) recently reported a robust enforcement year with record-breaking results. The summary is an indicator of where the division is concentrating efforts,...more
The proliferation of U.S. sanctions and other regulations affecting cross-border transactions has implications for directors, who may be personally liable for violations in some cases. Meanwhile, the Securities and Exchange...more
Christopher Gent, a former CEO of Vodafone Group plc and non-executive Chairman of GlaxoSmithKline plc, was appointed as the non-executive Chairman of ConvaTec Group Plc (“ConvaTec”), a company admitted to trading on the...more
Identifying and reporting instances of potential market abuse is required under the Market Abuse Regulation ('MAR'). A firm must have effective arrangements, systems and procedures in place to detect and report suspicious...more
It is clear that the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) intends to be more aggressive in its enforcement activity in the coming year. The FCA’s Business Plan for 2021/22 (the Business Plan) signals a change in focus for the...more
The FCA's focus on market abuse is nothing new. Frequent references to the FCA's focus on tackling market abuse have featured in every single one of its Business Plans since 2013/14, with similar references also running...more
Amid the uncertainty brought about by the end of the Brexit transition period and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, firms should be aware that the FCA will retain an active approach to financial crime and regulatory enforcement...more
The FCA has published a Decision Notice and fined the former CEO of WorldSpreads Ltd for engaging in market abuse (dissemination, manipulating transactions and false or misleading impressions) and banned him from performing...more
At the end of June 2020, the Financial Conduct Authority (the “FCA”) issued a public censure to Redcentric PLC for market abuse resulting from significant accounting errors. The resolution is particularly eye-catching because...more
The FCA has published a public censure against an AIM company, Redcentric PLC (“Redcentric”), for committing market abuse by publishing false information about its debt and cash positions. As an IT firm providing services...more
The FCA publicly censured the IT service provider for publishing false information about its net debt and holdings of cash and cash equivalents. On 26 June 2020, the FCA issued a final notice to Redcentric PLC...more
While enforcement agencies have yet to indicate that they intend to put their pens down in response to COVID-19, there is anecdotal evidence that some agencies have slowed their investigations as remote working impacts matter...more
On 6 February 2020, Mark Steward, Executive Director of Enforcement and Market Oversight at the Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”), spoke at the 19th Annual Institute on Securities Regulation in Europe. His speech,...more
Welcome to the 2020 edition of In Principle. With the United Kingdom (UK) leaving the European Union (EU) on31 January 2020, and moving into a transition period which will last until 31 December 2020, Brexit of courselooms...more
To gain insight into where the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) have been focusing their oversight and what their priorities will be in 2020, look no further than...more
Firms will need to ensure their systems and controls to prevent financial crime and money laundering are working effectively: this is just part of the message contained in the FCA’s Business Plan for 2019/20. The Business...more
The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority has published a Decision Notice (dated June 7, 2018) imposing a fine of £409,300 on a U.K. brokerage firm for failure to take reasonable care to organize and control its affairs...more
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC” or the “Commission”) held its annual SEC Speaks conference in Washington, DC on February 23 and 24, 2018 and provided remarks from the Chairman and commissioners, discussions...more
There is much for authorised firms to consider in the year ahead. Firms have been through the intensive period of the enactment of the second Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID II), but must now step up their...more
The Situation: Australia has adopted a package of changes to its antitrust laws that are designed to give more power to its antitrust enforcement agency, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, and to increase...more
This issue of Skadden’s semiannual Cross-Border Investigations Update takes a close look at recent cases, regulatory activity and other key developments, including new U.K. reporting obligations for sanctions violations,...more