Of the 46 enforcement actions in 2023: 26 actions (57%) alleged fraud under Section 17(a) - of the Securities Act and/or Section 10(b) and Rule 10b-5 of the Exchange Act; 28 (61%) alleged an unregistered securities...more
On January 28, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California against HeadSpin, Inc., a Silicon Valley start-up....more
On July 13, 2021, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced charges against special purpose acquisition corporation Stable Road Acquisition Company, its sponsor SRC-NI, its CEO Brian Kabot, the SPAC’s proposed...more
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently charged two Maryland companies and their executives in a scheme that allegedly defrauded approximately 1,200 investors of more than $27 million. ...more
In a case reminiscent of last year’s blockbuster government actions against Theranos and its former executives, the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission have separately charged two former...more
Rejecting the analysis of every other federal appellate court to consider the issue, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently held that most claims filed under Section 14(e) of the Securities Exchange Act of...more
In Varjabedian v. Emulex Corp., No. 16-55088, 2018 U.S. App. LEXIS 10000 (9th Cir. Apr. 20, 2018), the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit split from the Second, Third, Fifth, Sixth and Eleventh Circuits to...more
Varjabedian ruling challenges long-standing precedent of scienter requirement. Section 14(e) ruling creates circuit split, increasing odds of Supreme Court review. ...more
On March 1, 2018, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) filed a complaint in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York (“Court”) charging Leonard Genova, town attorney and deputy supervisor for...more
On December 1, 2017, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois charging David Webb, Jr. (“Webb”), mayor of Markham, Illinois from...more
On November 21, 2017, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) filed a complaint charging Oyster Bay, New York (the “Town”), along with its former Supervisor and Chief Executive Officer, John Venditto, with...more
Barbara Duka was an employee of Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services. The SEC contended that Duka loosened S&P’s methodology for rating commercial mortgage-backed securities to help the company generate ratings business from...more
S.E.C. v. Radius Capital Corp., No. 15-12004, 2016 WL 3542235, ___ F. App’x ___ (11th Cir. June 29, 2016). The Eleventh Circuit last month explained the material similarities and differences between two kinds of...more
This case involved a civil enforcement action by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) against certain public relations companies and their principals, alleging violations of—among other things—Section 17(a) of the...more