The Rules They Are A-Changin’: CMS Proposes a Significant Change to the 60-Day Repayment Rule
In February 2024, we published an alert discussing the significant benefits of prompt self-reporting and cooperation during a US Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") investigation. This past week, during his keynote...more
Recent Department of Justice (“DOJ” or “Department”) activity on bribery in Mexico and Latin America sends a warning and provides a roadmap to companies doing business there. By following the roadmap, companies may escape...more
Glass Lewis (“GL”) recently released its annual Benchmark Policy Guidelines for 2024. This update makes several changes to how the proxy advisory firm will evaluate company policies related to executive compensation. ...more
The U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission (“SEC”) recently found that an investment adviser mischaracterized its integration of Environmental, Social, and Governance (“ESG”) factors into research and investment...more
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), in a couple of recent settled actions, continues to warn companies that the practice of requiring departing employees to sign comprehensive releases in return for...more
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently charged Betterment, a leading robo-adviser, for making misstatements regarding its automated tax loss harvesting service (TLH). Betterment allegedly misled investors about...more
In yet another indication that the Biden administration is continuing to ramp up white collar enforcement, the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) and Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced on April 20, 2022 that...more
On November 6, 2019, the Fraud Section of the Department of Justice with the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas, and the CFTC, announced settlements of their spoofing and market manipulation...more
On October 9, 2019, Judge C. Darnell Jones, II of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania dismissed a putative securities class action asserting claims under the Securities Exchange Act of...more
On September 4, 2019, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) announced they had entered into settlements with Options Clearing Corporation (“OCC”) regarding its...more
On July 11, FINRA released Regulatory Notice 19-23 (the Notice),1 which provides welcome details on the ways that firms and individuals can receive credit for extraordinary cooperation in connection with an investigation in...more
On July 11, 2019, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) restated and supplemented prior guidance regarding the circumstances under which FINRA will award credit for “extraordinary cooperation” in...more
FINRA yesterday issued long-anticipated guidance concerning credit for extraordinary cooperation in the context of enforcement investigations. Like its government counterparts, FINRA hopes to incentivize member firms that go...more
Companies facing liability under the False Claims Act (FCA) often desire early resolution with the Department of Justice (DOJ) through settlement. Hand in hand with the decision to settle comes the decision of whether or not...more
The SEC Munchee Order and Chairman’s Statement - On December 11, 2017, the U.S Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) issued a cease and desist order (“Order”) against Munchee, Inc.’s (“Munchee”) $15 million Initial...more
The SEC issued a cease and desist order against Munchee’s $15 million ICO, opining that the tokens were securities for which no there was registration statement filed or in effect with the Commission nor a qualifying...more
DOJ’s continuing focus on individuals has spawned a new one year FCPA Pilot Program which offers companies enhanced cooperation credit The new Pilot Program is part of an overall effort to bolster FCPA compliance. Those...more
The holiday season may be a time of good cheer. Wall Street banks may not agree, however, at least for this year. As the season began to unfold JPMorgan settled a Commission action centered on conflicts by admitting the facts...more
Non-Enforcement Cybersecurity Is At the Top of SEC Examination Concerns In a recent SEC “risk alert” for registered broker-dealers and investment advisers, the SEC’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE)...more
The Securities & Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced last week that it charged The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company (“Goodyear”) with violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”), and that Goodyear agreed to pay more...more
An SEC-registered adviser (the “Adviser”) was granted exemptive relief pursuant to Rule 206(4)-5 (the “Rule”) under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (the “Advisers Act”) from the Rule’s two-year prohibition on receiving...more