No Password Required: An FBI Special Agent's Journey from Submarines to Anti-Corruption to Cybersecurity
On August 14, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced yet another wave of enforcement actions related to widespread “off-channel communications,” charging an additional 26 firms with failing to maintain...more
SEC's and CFTC's Enforcement Actions Against Multiple Firms - In its continued pursuit of rooting out and penalizing broker-dealers and investment advisers for their failure to prevent unapproved communication methods, the...more
The Department of Justice (DOJ) has updated their Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs policy with special attention paid to messaging platforms when detecting and investigating potential misconduct and law violations....more
Welcome to the latest issue of Bracewell’s FINRA Facts and Trends, a monthly newsletter devoted to condensing and digesting recent FINRA developments in the areas of enforcement, regulation and dispute resolution. This month,...more
On September 29, 2023, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced enforcement actions against five broker-dealers, three dually registered broker-dealers and investment advisers, and two affiliated investment...more
In recent years, regulated industries, particularly broker dealer firms like Wells Fargo and Morgan Stanley, have faced increased scrutiny from regulatory bodies due to their lack of compliance in policing messaging apps. The...more
2023 continues to be a busy year for European data protection authorities. Following its release of the Irish Data Protection Commission’s (DPC’s) binding decisions in cases against Facebook and Instagram, the European Data...more
On October 28, 2022, Vice Chancellor Morgan T. Zurn of the Delaware Court of Chancery ruled that the declaratory action brought by Buzzfeed Inc. against 91 current and former employees is not bound by arbitration provisions...more
SEC Advertising Rules – Client Resource Center - November 4 was the compliance date for the new rule governing advertising and solicitation activities by investment advisers. The new rule substantially revises decades old...more
According to a recent press release from the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC), sixteen Wall Street firms were fined for widespread and longstanding failures by the organizations and their employees to maintain and...more
Recent Enforcement Action - The requirement that financial firms preserve books and records is nothing new. But how do such firms keep track of employees’ communications on applications like Signal or WhatsApp? Those...more
The SEC and CFTC recently charged 11 large financial institutions and their affiliates for failing to collect, monitor, and preserve communications over WhatsApp and other messaging services. These settlements follow a...more
The SEC requires broker-dealers to maintain originals of all communications received and copies of all communications sent by the broker-dealer relating to its business for three years. The SEC has explained that Rule 17a-4...more
Using personal devices and messaging platforms may be convenient (and ubiquitous), but it may run afoul of federal records retention rules. Our Investment Management, Trading & Markets and White Collar, Government & Internal...more
On December 17, 2021, a financial institution agreed to pay $200 million in fines to the Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodities Futures Trading Commission for allowing employees to discuss business on their...more
When GDPR became effective three years ago, companies took notice of the fines and penalties attached to violations of the stringent privacy law—4 percent of global annual sales....more
The Trump Administration has focused on competition and the technology sector. First, the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division filed a monopolization case against Google. Last week, the Federal Trade Commission and 46...more
On March 8, 2019, the U.S. Department of Justice announced an important change to its Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) Corporate Enforcement Policy concerning one of the conditions — “appropriate retention of business...more
Personal data is a valuable corporate asset. At times, the personal information collected from customers (such as email address, mailing address, phone number, etc.) can be a company’s most valuable asset. Unfortunately,...more