Although the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit upheld a damages award for trade secret misappropriation and breach of a confidentiality agreement, it found that the district court erred in its determination of when...more
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) initiated 80 enforcement actions against public companies and subsidiaries in fiscal year 2024, marking a 12% decline from FY 2023 but still up nearly 5% compared to the...more
As news stories about AI have surged, so have enforcement actions by the SEC alleging fraudulent statements about AI capabilities....more
On August 7, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York permanently enjoined Ripple from future violations of Section 5 of the Securities Act of 1933—that is, from the unregistered offer and sale of...more
In March 2023, the SEC imposed a total monetary settlement of $79.5 million in SEC v. Barksdale et al., of which $56.3 million consisted of disgorgement and prejudgment interest. This was the largest monetary penalty imposed...more
It should come as no surprise that one of the goals of an investment fraud is the theft of customer funds for the scammer’s personal benefit. In legal parlance, this aspect of a fraudulent investment scheme is called...more
Total monetary value of settlements fell to lowest level in last eight fiscal years. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed 91 enforcement actions against public companies and subsidiaries in fiscal year...more
The following is an edited version of a conversation between Goodwin partners Jonathan Hecht and Isaac Vinyarsh. Before joining Goodwin, Jonathan spent more than a decade in the SEC’s Division of Enforcement, including...more
Who may be interested: Registered Investment Advisers. Quick Take: The SEC recently settled charges against an investment adviser (Adviser) and one of the Adviser’s partial owners for breach of fiduciary duty in...more
As of February 9, 2023, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has accused Payward Ventures, Inc. and Payward Trading Ltd, better known as Kraken, of failing to register the sale of their cryptocurrency...more
On Monday the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission issued a cease-and-desist order to Kim Kardashian for failing to disclose that she received $250,000 to promote EthereumMax’s digital tokens, “EMAX tokens,” on...more
The SEC announced another FCPA settlement in 2022. FCPA enforcement, in general, is picking up. Tenaris, a global supplier of steel pipes and related services for the energy industry, agreed to pay the SEC $78 million to...more
Former CEO Indicted for Misleading Investors About COVID-19 Test Kits - A federal grand jury in New Jersey indicted Marc Schessel—the former CEO of SCWorx Corp.—on two counts of securities fraud for allegedly misleading...more
In a recent precedential opinion, Kars 4 Kids Inc. v. America Can!, __ F.4th __ (3d Cir. 2021) (publication pending), the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit vacated a $10.6 million trademark infringement...more
SEC Charges Cannabis Pill Company with $2 Million Securities Fraud - On September 28, 2021, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) charged a California-based cannabis company C3 International, Inc. (“C3”) and its...more
In a long-running trademark dispute between two charitable organizations, the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit found that the appellee did not preserve its challenge to the district court’s denial of summary judgment...more
In our October 2019 update, we discussed how the staff of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has remained sharply focused in recent years on the conflicts of interest related to investment advisers’ selection...more
Cardinal Health Inc. (Cardinal) settled its Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) matter with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) last week. According to the SEC Press Release, Anita B. Bandy, Associate Director in...more
The SEC announced settlements with an auditing firm (the “Firm”) and one of its partners relating to violations of certain auditor independence rules involving nineteen audit engagements with fifteen SEC-registrant issuers. ...more
Last week Juniper Networks, Inc. (JNPR) resolved their long-standing Foreign Corruption Practices Act (FCPA) enforcement action by settling with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) via a Cease and Desist Order...more
On Aug. 1, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) charged Commonwealth Equity Services LLC, dba Commonwealth Financial Network (Commonwealth), a registered independent investment adviser to private clients (but not...more
The big one finally is resolved. The long-awaited Walmart Inc. (Walmart) Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) enforcement action was announced yesterday. This massive case came in with multiple documents, a long list of...more
The Securities and Exchange Commission filed a complaint last week against the founder of venture-backed mobile payments startup Jumio, Inc., charging him with causing the company to prepare false and misleading financial...more
In December 2018, the SEC announced two enforcement actions involving business development companies (BDCs) – one against Fifth Street Management, LLC, the former external registered investment adviser to two BDCs, and the...more
Over the past year, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has ramped up its scrutiny of cryptocurrencies and other digital token offerings. On Sept. 11, 2018, the SEC escalated its crackdown when it announced a pair of...more