Bill on Bankruptcy: Stockton May Win the Battle, Lose the War
On September 13, 2022 the Securities and Exchange Commission filed litigation against four separate municipal securities underwriters for failing to comply with municipal bond offering disclosure requirements. The four firms...more
On September 14, 2022, the SEC announced a settled administrative order, also dated September 14 (“Order”), imposing penalties, including a $100,000 fine, on a registered broker (the “Broker”) for failing to (1)...more
On September 13, 2022, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced a settlement with investment advisory firm Buckman Advisory Group LLC (“Buckman Advisory”) and its CEO Harry Buckman Jr. to settle...more
Summary - The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently announced enforcement proceedings against four municipal market underwriters for alleged violations of municipal bond disclosure requirements. Three of the...more
The SEC recently brought fraud charges against Sterlington, Louisiana and its former mayor and separately against Rochester, New York and its former executives and Rochester’s municipal advisors and principals/owners...more
Since September 2021, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) has brought five enforcement actions regarding municipal bond financings. The issuers of these bonds are Sweetwater Union High School...more
On March 16, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged Crosby (Texas) Independent School District (Crosby) and its former Chief Financial Officer, Carla Merka, with misleading investors in a $20 million municipal...more
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
On September 16, 2021, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) entered an order against a school district (Sweetwater Union High School District (the “District”) in San Diego County, California) and charged the school...more
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
Monday saw U.S. oil prices take an unprecedented plunge into negative territory, as “concerns grew that storage tanks in the United States were near capacity and unable to hold all the unused code” (with the “bizarre movement...more
The Morgan Lewis Year in Review highlights key US Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC or the Commission) and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) enforcement and examination developments, and cases...more
Facebook and the FTC have agreed to terms on a settlement addressing the social network’s privacy violations in recent years. Along with the previously reported $5 billion fine, the deal will require Facebook to “add new...more
The Federal Reserve released the minutes from its consequential January meeting yesterday, giving us (and Wall Street) the skinny on its new policy course that shifted from gradual regular rate hikes to a wait-and-see...more
The rise of tariffs as a trade weapon has put the WTO in a very difficult position as “chief judge in an intense fight among its most powerful members”....more
On May 9, 2018, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") announced it charged a registered municipal advisor (the "MA Firm") and its owner (the "MA Owner") with defrauding their client, a Texas school district, in...more
Just in the last weeks of August, the Public Finance Abuse Unit of the Enforcement Division of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced settlements of securities fraud actions involving a city, an underwriter, a...more
A settlement announced this week by the SEC serves as a reminder that the Commission is in the process of reviewing the Municipalities Continuing Disclosure Cooperation participants, and that it will continue to pursue...more
On April 5, as one of several enforcement actions relating to an alleged Ponzi scheme, the Securities and Exchange Commission settled an administrative enforcement action against a municipal bond underwriter accused of...more
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced on Jan. 10, 2017, that the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (Port Authority) agreed to admit wrongdoing and pay a $400,000 penalty in connection with...more
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has admitted wrongdoing and agreed to pay a $400,000 penalty to settle SEC charges that it failed to adequately disclose project risks to investors purchasing $2.3 billion in...more
On August 24, the SEC announced settled administrative actions against 71 state and local issuers arising from $3.7 trillion in municipal securities offerings. The Commission alleged the issuers made false statements...more
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently announced enforcement actions against 71 municipal issuers of bonds in connection with the Municipalities Continuing Disclosure Cooperation (MCDC) Initiative. The...more
On August 24, 2016, the SEC announced that it had entered into settlement orders with 71 municipal issuers and other obligated persons for violations of federal securities laws in municipal bond offerings. The issuers and...more
On August 24, 2016, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced enforcement actions against 71 municipal issuers and other obligated persons (collectively, the municipal issuers) under the SEC’s Municipalities...more