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Securities Exchange Act › Enforcement Actions

The Securities Exchance Act is a United States federal statute enacted in 1934 to govern the secondary securities trading market. In addition, the Securities Exchange Act established the Securities and Exchange... more +
The Securities Exchance Act is a United States federal statute enacted in 1934 to govern the secondary securities trading market. In addition, the Securities Exchange Act established the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which is the primary regulatory agency enforcing federal securities laws. less -
A&O Shearman

Addressing Issue Of First Impression, Southern District Of New York Dismisses Action Seeking To Impose Short-Swing Liability...

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On March 14, 2025, Judge John P. Cronan of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York granted summary judgment in favor of defendants in an action brought under Section 16(b) of the Securities...more

A&O Shearman

Southern District Of New York Denies Digital Asset Trading Company’s Motion For Judgment On The Pleadings

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On February 7, 2025, Judge Paul A. Engelmayer of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York denied a motion for judgment on the pleadings in a putative class action against a cryptocurrency...more

Fenwick & West LLP

Entertainment or Investment? The SEC’s Stance on Meme Coins as Securities

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On February 27, 2025, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Division of Corporation Finance (Corp Fin) published a new staff statement intended to clarify the application of federal securities laws to meme coins....more

Nutter McClennen & Fish LLP

Nutter Securities Enforcement Update: 2024 Fourth Quarterly Review

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The Nutter Securities Enforcement Update is a periodic update of noteworthy recent securities enforcement activity, settlements, decisions, and charges. We provide brief summaries that highlight recent enforcement action...more

Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP

SEC Brings Suit Against Elon Musk for Failure to Report Twitter Ownership

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On January 14, 2025, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) sued Elon Musk over his 2022 acquisition of Twitter, Inc. stock and alleged failure to timely disclose a 5% ownership stake in Twitter, as required...more

Holland & Knight LLP

Fashion Retailer Failed to "Express" $1M in Perks But Skirts Civil Penalties

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Like a fashion trend that never fails to come back in style (we look fabulous in baggy jeans, btw), we're revisiting SEC enforcement actions involving public company executive perquisites – or "perks" – a topic we have...more

Cornerstone Research

SEC Enforcement of Cryptocurrency Dropped 30% in the Last Year of the Gensler Administration

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Enforcement during Gensler administration was considerably higher than during the previous administration. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) brought 33 cryptocurrency-related enforcement actions in 2024, the...more

Cooley LLP

SEC charges Celsius Holdings with improper accounting for stock awards and disclosure control failures

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In this settled action—part of a slew of SEC Enforcement cases reported out in the last days before the change in Administration—the SEC alleged that Celsius Holdings, Inc. engaged in improper accounting for stock-based...more

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP

“Under the Wire” E-Comms Settlements: More Confusion Than Closure

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On January 13, 2025, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced settled enforcement actions with five registered investment advisers for failing to maintain and preserve internal electronic communications. These...more

Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP

SEC sanctions broker-dealer for misleading bond sales

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On January 13, a broker-dealer agreed to pay over $40 million to settle SEC charges that it failed to properly supervise its employees in the sale of mortgage-backed bonds. According to the SEC order, the broker-dealer’s...more

Cooley LLP

SEC files complaint against Elon Musk alleging violation of Section 13(d)

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On Tuesday, the SEC filed a complaint in the D.C. federal district court alleging that Elon Musk ignored the Section 13(d) beneficial ownership reporting deadline when, in March 2022, he acquired more than 5% of outstanding...more

Allen Matkins

SEC's Latest Complaint Against Elon Musk Spawns Questions About The Politics Of SEC Enforcement

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Earlier this week, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed a civil complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.  The complaint alleges that Mr. Musk in acquiring shares of Twitter failed to file a...more

Foley & Lardner LLP

Does Your Company Discourage Employees from Being Whistleblowers? The SEC May Think So!

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The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which was enacted in 2010 in response to the 2008 financial crisis, added protections for whistleblower activity to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (“Exchange...more

Cooley LLP

Enforcement offers a reminder about disclosures of related-person transactions

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Just in time for the commencement of proxy season we have this reminder from SEC Enforcement about disclosures of related-person transactions. Failure to properly report on a related-person transaction has been a subject of...more

Cooley LLP

McMahon takes a bump

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On Friday, the SEC announced settled charges against Vince McMahon, founder, controlling shareholder and former Executive Chair and CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment, for “knowingly circumventing WWE’s internal accounting...more

Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP

Corporate Governance: 2024 Year-End Review

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As 2025 begins, we cover several significant corporate governance developments that occurred in the second half of 2024 and since our Corporate Governance: 2024 Midyear Review was published in August. We first highlight...more

A&O Shearman

Fifth Circuit Vacates SEC Order Approving Nasdaq’s Board Diversity Proposal

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On December 11, 2024, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, in a 9-8 en banc decision, vacated NASDAQ’s Board Diversity Rules (the “Rules”) in Alliance for Fair Board Recruitment v. SEC, finding that the...more

Morgan Lewis

Attorneys General Allege SEC Overreach in Digital Asset Regulation

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A complaint was recently filed by 18 state attorneys general and the DeFi Education Fund against the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), alleging that the agency is exceeding its authority by attempting to regulate...more

Holland & Knight LLP

A Long Winter's Nap? SEC Off-Channel Communications Enforcement May Draw to a Close

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The SEC's wave of enforcement actions concerning "off-channel" communications did not abate in 2024. In total, the SEC announced more than 70 firms agreed to pay more than a half-billion dollars combined to settle charges for...more

BCLP

Perk Redux - Yet Another Company Stumbles Over SEC Executive Compensation Rules

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On December 17, 2024, the SEC announced settled charges against Express, Inc. for failing to disclose perks paid to its then CEO, including personal use of airplanes. Without admitting or denying the SEC’s findings,...more

Holland & Knight LLP

A Word from the Ghost of Holiday Future: SEC Active in Cybersecurity and AI Actions

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The SEC was increasingly active in fiscal year (FY) 2024 in pursuing enforcement actions involving cybersecurity incidents and artificial intelligence (AI) (query how long society will continue to define AI; harkens to the...more

Holland & Knight LLP

3 French Hens? No. SEC Presses Enforcement on Insider Trading, Shadow Trading, Reg FD

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The SEC did not take its foot off the pedal in fiscal year (FY) 2024 when it came to prosecuting insider trading. In the third installment of Season's Readings, we consider several recent actions in which the agency secured...more

BCLP

U.S. Supreme Court Changes Its Mind, Will Not Decide Facebook Dispute Concerning Public Companies’ Risk-Factor Disclosures

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After hearing argument earlier this month in a widely followed securities law case concerning risk-factor disclosures of public companies, the U.S. Supreme Court last week decided it should not have agreed to hear the case...more

WilmerHale

Trump Administration 2.0: How the SEC's Approach to Crypto Could Change

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The election of Donald J. Trump as President could have a significant impact on the crypto industry given his campaign promise of a pro-crypto administration. President Trump will be able to appoint a new chair of the...more

Morgan Lewis - All Things FinReg

SEC Charges Crypto Market Maker as Unregistered Dealer

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The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a complaint against a crypto market maker (Market Maker) on October 10, 2024, alleging that the firm operated as an unregistered securities dealer in violation of Section...more

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