On Thursday, February 20, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced that it created a Cyber and Emerging Technologies Unit (“CETU”) to combat cyber-focused financial misconduct. The announcement reflects a...more
SEC Chair Gary Gensler announced November 21 that he will leave his post January 20, 2025. The next day, the SEC announced its enforcement results for fiscal year 2024, which ended September 30. This was the latest release of...more
The SEC and FinCEN Request Comments on their Proposed Rule on Customer Identification Programs for Registered Investment Advisers and Exempt Reporting Advisers -
The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and the...more
5/24/2024
/ AML/CFT ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
Customer Due Diligence (CDD) ,
Customer Identification Program (CIP) ,
Exempt Reporting Advisers (ERAs) ,
Financial Institutions ,
FinCEN ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Advisers Act of 1940 ,
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) ,
Popular ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
Section 3(a)(5) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Securities Exchange Act”) defines a “dealer” as “any person engaged in the business of buying and selling securities […] for such person’s own account...more
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) supervisory control rules require each securities broker-dealer that is a member of FINRA to categorize every location from which the business of the broker-dealer is...more
On April 4, 2023, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) filed suit against Charlie Javice, the 31-year-old founder of Frank, a student loan and financial aid assistance company. That same day, the U.S....more
5/31/2023
/ Bank Fraud ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement ,
Financial Aid ,
Penalties ,
Securities Act of 1933 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Student Loans ,
Willful Misconduct ,
Wire Fraud
SEC Rule 10b5-1 plans have long provided an effective means for corporate insiders to buy and sell their own company’s securities without fear of civil or criminal insider trading liability, but these plans have come under...more
6/25/2021
/ Administrative Orders ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
EDGAR ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Good Faith ,
Insider Trading ,
Internal Controls ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Rule 10b-5 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ,
Trading Plans ,
Transparency
BlackRock Doubles Down on Sustainability -
• BlackRock signals substantially more assertive posture on climate-related issues
• New approach to shareholder proposals saw BlackRock support 54% of environmental and social...more
4/23/2021
/ Benchmarking ,
BlackRock ,
Climate Change ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
EEO-1 ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) ,
Investment ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
State Street ,
Sustainability ,
Transparency ,
Vanguard
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) have each published their annual examination priorities for 2021, signaling areas of scrutiny that broker-dealers should...more
4/9/2021
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Compliance ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Protection ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Phishing Scams ,
Ransomware ,
Risk Mitigation ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs)
On March 3, 2021, the SEC’s Division of Examinations (“Division” or “EXAMS”) published its annual Examination Priorities Report, which identified eight primary areas of focus for Fiscal Year 2021. While many of these...more
4/1/2021
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Digital Assets ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
FinTech ,
Fraud ,
Information Security ,
Investment Adviser ,
Libor ,
Market Infrastructure ,
Regulation Best Interest ,
Retail Investors ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
The global COVID-19 pandemic, severe weather events, and the social unrest unleashed in the United States over the past year have amplified the role of Environmental, Social and Governance (“ESG”) as a driving factor in...more
On February 16, 2021, the SEC filed a litigated civil complaint in the Southern District of New York against Morningstar Credit Ratings LLC, a former Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organization (“NRSRO”) alleging...more
3/18/2021
/ Civil Monetary Penalty ,
CMBS ,
Credit Ratings ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Disgorgement ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Injunctive Relief ,
Internal Controls ,
NRSRO ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Rating Agencies ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
The legitimacy and scope of the SEC’s “disgorgement” remedy have been the focus of increasing scrutiny for the better part of the past decade. Among other things, two Supreme Court decisions in the past four years placed...more
2/4/2021
/ Appropriation ,
Disgorgement ,
Investors ,
Kokesh v SEC ,
Liu v Securities and Exchange Commission ,
NDAA ,
Popular ,
Sarbanes-Oxley ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Litigation ,
Statute of Limitations
The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) last week published its observations from the first five months operating the SEC’s national examination program during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. This is the latest...more
8/19/2020
/ Broker-Dealer ,
Business Continuity Plans ,
CARES Act ,
Compliance ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Privacy ,
Investment Fraud ,
Investors ,
OCIE ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
On June 23, 2020, the SEC’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (“OCIE”) published a Risk Alert, Observations from Examinations of Investment Advisers Managing Private Funds (the “Risk Alert”), detailing their...more
On June 22, 2020, in Liu v. SEC, the Supreme Court held in an 8-1 decision that the SEC is authorized under 15 U.S.C. § 78u(d)(5) (2015) to seek disgorgement as “equitable relief” in district court actions, as long as the...more
7/13/2020
/ 15 U.S.C. § 78u(d)(5) ,
Administrative Authority ,
Business Expenses ,
Calculation of Damages ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Disgorgement ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Equitable Relief ,
Kokesh v SEC ,
Lack of Authority ,
Liu v Securities and Exchange Commission ,
Net Profits ,
Remedies ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
In June 2017, the Supreme Court held in Kokesh v. SEC that SEC disgorgement is a penalty, rather than an equitable remedy, and thus subject to the five-year statute of limitations codified in 28 U.S.C. § 2462. More than two...more
9/17/2019
/ Commercial Insurance Policies ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Disgorgement ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Enforcement Authority ,
Indemnification ,
Kokesh v SEC ,
Penalties ,
Popular ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Statute of Limitations
On January 28, 2019, FINRA announced a novel leniency initiative that will offer no-fine enforcement resolutions for member firms that self-report supervisory deficiencies related to recommendations of 529 savings plans and...more
In the wake of the Supreme Court’s unanimous decision in Kokesh v. SEC, which defined disgorgement as a penalty subject to the five-year statute of limitations, we observed that the decision was likely to have far-reaching...more
We live in a social media age where even foreign policy is announced via Twitter with ease and speed. But recent events serve as a reminder to public companies that the federal securities laws operate as an important...more
Following the lead of the Department of Justice, several agencies issued statements disclaiming guidance as legally binding authority. The Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation,...more
In the last four years, the Federal Courts of Appeal and the Supreme Court have addressed the significant question of what constitutes a personal benefit in determining whether an insider has breached a fiduciary duty in...more
In recent years, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Office of Inspections and Examinations (“OCIE”) has prioritized, in its examinations, the review of the fee billing and expense practices of investment advisers....more
In early 2018 both the SEC’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (“OCIE”) and FINRA announced their examination priorities for 2018.
As in previous years, both OCIE and FINRA share many examination priorities...more
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY –
Following testimony February 6th before the U.S. Senate, as well as a series of recent enforcement actions, it is clear that both the SEC and CFTC are picking up steam in their efforts to command a...more