On December 9, 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) settled an enforcement action against ICE Data Pricing & Reference Data LLC (PRD), a global securities pricing service and registered investment adviser, for...more
On February 9, Acting Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC or Commission) Chair Allison Herren Lee announced that senior officers in the SEC’s Division of Enforcement (Division) will once again be authorized to approve the...more
On February 8, in light of recent market volatility in the options and equities markets, the Division of Corporation Finance (Division) of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (Commission) published guidance for...more
On Friday January 1, with the Senate’s floor vote to override the president’s veto, Congress passed the 60th annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Encompassed within the $740.5 billion military spending bill is an...more
1/4/2021
/ Congressional Override ,
Disgorgement ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Equitable Relief ,
Kokesh v SEC ,
Liu v Securities and Exchange Commission ,
NDAA ,
Presidential Veto ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Statute of Limitations
Who Needs to Know -
Publicly traded companies, specifically those whose business was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic....more
Who Needs to Know -
Public companies and their directors and officers as well as brokers, dealers, investment advisors, investment companies and their associated persons....more
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently settled an enforcement action in which it found that a public company failed to develop and implement adequate controls around a stock buyback program. The action...more
A near-unanimous majority of the U.S. Supreme Court recently upheld, and simultaneously reigned in, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC’s) ability to obtain disgorgement under the federal securities laws. In the...more
6/26/2020
/ 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)
On June 22, the Department of Justice Antitrust Division (the Division) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced a first-of-its-kind Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the two agencies. The MOU was...more
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has advised that it will actively pursue COVID-19 related insider trading and antifraud violations in light of the unique opportunities the pandemic has created for individuals and...more
Gregory J. Nowak, a partner and practice leader for hedge funds in Pepper Hamilton’s Private Fund Services Practice Group, hosts a series of candid, interactive webinar discussions for West LegalEdcenter on what is going on...more
1/10/2020
/ Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Disgorgement ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Equitable Relief ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Fund Managers ,
Injunctions ,
Investment Firms ,
Investment Funds ,
Investment Management ,
Remediation ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Litigation ,
Securities Violations ,
Self-Reporting
Federal agencies have long wielded a set of enforcement tools not explicitly provided for by statute. Restitution—used by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to secure billions from defendants—and disgorgement—the Securities...more
11/7/2019
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Disgorgement ,
Enforcement Authority ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FTC Act ,
FTCA Section 13(b) ,
Kokesh v SEC ,
Section 5 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Violations ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices
Covering legal developments and regulatory news for registered funds, their advisers and industry participants through June 30, 2019.
Auditor Independence With Respect to Certain Loans or Debtor-Creditor Relationships -
On...more
7/19/2019
/ Broker-Dealer ,
Capital Formation ,
Common Reporting Standard (CRS) ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Duty of Care ,
Duty of Loyalty ,
ETFs ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Financial Markets ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Form CRS ,
Investment Management ,
Investor Protection ,
Public Comment ,
Regulation Best Interest ,
Regulation S-X ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation
Directors and officers are exposed to potential liability from suits by the company, shareholders, and debt holders, among others. There are, however, a number of protections available to protect the assets of directors and...more
12/27/2017
/ Asset Protection ,
Board of Directors ,
Corporate Officers ,
D&O Insurance ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Derivative Suit ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Indemnification ,
Insurance Industry ,
Liability Insurance ,
Personal Liability ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholder Litigation
The DOJ’s Yates Memo makes individual prosecutions a higher priority and makes a company’s own identification of potentially culpable individuals an explicit factor in assessing cooperation credit....more
9/14/2015
/ Corporate Fines ,
Corporate Governance ,
Deferred Prosecution Agreements ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
DPA ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Non-Prosecution Agreements ,
Proffer Agreement ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Wells Notice ,
Whistleblowers ,
White Collar Crimes ,
Willful Misconduct
On April 7, 2014, it was announced that the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has created a new private fund unit dedicated to the examination of private equity and hedge funds....more
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently has set its sights on registered entities and their officers and directors for overvaluing the entities’ assets....more
1/10/2013
/ Asset Valuations ,
Corporate Officers ,
Directors ,
Enforcement ,
Financial Accounting Standards Board ,
GAAP ,
Hedge Funds ,
Investment Adviser ,
Mutual Funds ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Valuation