We are pleased to present our latest update on financial reporting and issuer disclosure enforcement activity. This White Paper primarily focuses on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's ("SEC") enforcement activity...more
In Short -
The Situation: On January 17, 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice ("DOJ" or "Department") announced significant revisions to the Criminal Division's Corporate Enforcement Policy....more
In Short -
The Situation: On December 14, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") adopted final rules that significantly alter the ways in which directors and officers adopt and utilize Rule 10b5-1 plans and...more
With developments in the investigations field, including the ongoing expansion of this field internationally, companies face an unprecedented level of scrutiny from outside parties, including government agencies, and are...more
The Securities and Exchange Commission has issued final rules under which the national securities exchanges and associations will require listed issuers to adopt and operate accounting restatement-based clawback policies that...more
As required by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act in 2010, on October 26, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission adopted final rules directing the national securities exchanges and national...more
In Short -
The Situation: Following years of lobbying by senior prosecutors and other commentators, the UK government seems set to introduce an offence of a corporate failing to prevent economic crime....more
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network ("FinCEN") issued a final rule requiring certain entities to identify their beneficial owners and those individuals involved in creating or qualifying the entity to do business in the...more
In Short -
The Situation: On September 15, 2022, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco announced significant changes and updates to the Department of Justice's corporate criminal enforcement policies. ...more
In Short -
The Situation: The U.S. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board's ("PCAOB") ability to inspect and investigate PCAOB-registered public accounting firms in mainland China and Hong Kong was previously restricted...more
In the most recent editions of this publication, we predicted the SEC Enforcement Division would more aggressively enforce the federal securities law than the previous administration’s Enforcement Division. While the...more
JASTA's stated intention is to provide litigants "with the broadest possible basis" for relief against entities that have "provided material support, directly or indirectly, to foreign organizations or persons that engage in...more
On May 18, 2022, the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled that key aspects of the SEC's in-house enforcement regime for securities fraud cases were unconstitutional. The decision, Jarkesy v. SEC, has significant...more
5/23/2022
/ Adjudicatory Process ,
Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Administrative Proceedings ,
Appeals ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Enforcement Authority ,
Lack of Authority ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Fraud ,
Securities Violations
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's ("SEC") Climate and ESG Task Force has filed one of its most significant enforcement matters to date. On April 28, 2022, the SEC brought an action in the U.S. District Court for...more
On March 21, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") voted 3–1 to propose amendments to Regulations S-K and S-X that would require registrants to provide certain climate-related information in their registration...more
3/24/2022
/ Annual Reports ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Financial Statements ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Public Comment ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulation S-K ,
Regulation S-X ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation
As the U.S. government's economic sanctions against Russia continue to grow, regulators are calling on financial institutions to help detect and prevent attempts to evade these measures through the use of convertible virtual...more
3/14/2022
/ Convertible Virtual Currencies (CVCs) ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement Priorities ,
Financial Crimes ,
Financial Institutions ,
FinCEN ,
Military Conflict ,
Patriot Act ,
Russia ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) ,
Ukraine
2021 was a precedent-setting year for anti-money laundering (“AML”) enforcement and legislation. The digital assets industry continued to grow exponentially, driving the associated AML risks to the forefront of regulatory...more
3/10/2022
/ AML/CFT ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
BSA/AML ,
Corruption ,
Cryptoassets ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Financial Crimes ,
FinCEN ,
Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA) ,
Terrorist Financing Regulations ,
Virtual Currency
On January 28, 2022, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") announced a settled fraud case with HeadSpin, Inc., a technology start-up, that allegedly engaged in a scheme to boost the company's valuation to more...more
The proposed amendments to the rules governing the whistleblower program, if adopted, would reverse prior amendments and provide further and significant financial incentives for whistleblowers to report potential violations...more
2/14/2022
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Securities Violations ,
Whistleblower Awards ,
Whistleblower Protection Policies ,
Whistleblowers
The Biden administration took office in January 2021, announcing aggressive and sweeping anticorruption initiatives to tackle corruption around the world, labeling corruption a national security priority, and signaling a...more
1/28/2022
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Biden Administration ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
National Security ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Whistleblowers ,
White Collar Crimes
We are pleased to present our year-end update on financial reporting and issuer disclosure enforcement activity. This White Paper primarily focuses on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (“SEC”) enforcement activity...more
The Fifth Circuit's opinion creates a circuit split that raises the possibility of a Supreme Court review.
On December 13, 2021, the Fifth Circuit issued an en banc opinion in Cochran v. U.S. Securities & Exchange...more
The accelerated pace and size of awards to whistleblowers totaling more than $530 million in SEC Fiscal Year 2021 underscores the commitment to the whistleblower program under new SEC leadership. On September 15, 2021, the...more
We are pleased to present our latest update on financial reporting and issuer disclosure enforcement activity. This White Paper primarily focuses on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (“SEC”) enforcement activity...more
SEC Chairman Gary Gensler suggests SEC will aggressively police crypto assets and decentralized finance ("DeFi") platforms while seeking expanded authority to regulate these fast-growing industries....more
8/10/2021
/ Cryptoassets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) ,
Digital Assets ,
Gary Gensler ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Policy Statement ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Token Sales ,
Unregistered Securities