Whistleblower programs are the gifts that keep giving to enforcement agencies, driving a record number of cases, sanctions and awards across multiple agencies. In this ninth installment of Season's Readings, we revisit some...more
12/20/2024
/ Appointments Clause ,
Article II ,
CFTC ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Corruption ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Enforcement Priorities ,
Enforcement Statistics ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Federal Pilot Programs ,
FinCEN ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Whistleblower Awards ,
Whistleblower Protection Policies ,
Whistleblowers ,
White Collar Crimes
As part of its formal fiscal year (FY) 2024 priorities, the SEC's Division of Examinations identified the review of investment advisers to private funds as a key priority. Fresh off the implementation of the Marketing Rule in...more
In recent remarks at the Securities Enforcement Forum West 2024, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Director of the Division of Enforcement Gurbir Grewal extolled the benefits of and expounded on the elements of...more
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) Division of Corporation Finance Director Erik Gerding released a statement on May 21, 2024, addressing Disclosure of Cybersecurity Incidents Determined to be Material and...more
5/23/2024
/ Compliance ,
Compliance Dates ,
Corporate Governance ,
Cyber Incident Reporting ,
Cybersecurity ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Form 8-K ,
Materiality ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Risk Management ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation
Holland & Knight, the Florida Chamber of Commerce, Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce and Miami-Dade Chamber of Commerce hosted the 2023 Florida Enforcement Summit on Oct. 18, 2023. The half-day program focused on current...more
10/31/2023
/ Compliance ,
Cooperation ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Authority ,
Enforcement Priorities ,
Ransomware ,
Safe Harbors ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
State and Local Government
Amid ongoing federal government shutdown risks and the close of its fiscal year, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) Division of Examinations (Exams) recently announced its fiscal year (FY) 2024 priorities....more
10/26/2023
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Clearing Agencies ,
Compliance ,
Cryptoassets ,
Cybersecurity ,
FinTech ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Companies ,
Market Participants ,
Regulation SCI ,
Risk Alert ,
Risk Assessment ,
SEC Examination Priorities ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
SRO
Continuing its focus on incentivizing prompt and voluntary self-disclosure of criminal misconduct, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco announced earlier this month a new U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Safe Harbor Policy...more
10/23/2023
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Division ,
Compliance ,
Cooperation ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Declination ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Due Diligence ,
Enforcement ,
Mergers ,
Policy Statement ,
Remediation ,
Safe Harbors ,
Voluntary Disclosure
As the SEC closed its fiscal year, it filed three separate enforcement actions against companies for purported violations of Rule 21F-17 under the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, which prohibits persons from impeding...more
10/10/2023
/ Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Compliance ,
Contract Terms ,
Employment Contract ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Remediation ,
Retaliation ,
Rule 21F-17 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Securities Violations ,
Separation Agreement ,
Whistleblower Protection Policies ,
Whistleblowers
The SEC's Division of Examinations (Exam) published a Risk Alert on Jan. 30, 2023, summarizing alleged deficiencies its staff observed since Exam started conducting broker-dealer examinations to assess compliance with...more
Recent remarks from two SEC Commissioners illustrate the broader divide about environmental, social and governance (ESG)-related disclosures and the resulting compliance costs public companies and regulated entities could...more
11/10/2022
/ Climate Change ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Due Diligence ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Investors ,
Market Participants ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
The SEC continues to focus a portion of its enforcement attention on registrants' obligations with regard to anti-money laundering (AML) compliance and transaction monitoring. In this post, we provide a refresher on the...more
7/6/2022
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Broker-Dealer ,
BSA/AML ,
Compliance ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Priorities ,
Financial Institutions ,
FinCEN ,
Risk Alert ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Suspicious Activities ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs)
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) Division of Enforcement (Division) published its Annual Report for Fiscal Year 2021 on Nov. 18, 2021. The Annual Report – the first issued under new Enforcement Director...more
12/1/2021
/ Annual Reports ,
Compliance ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Disgorgement ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Enforcement Statistics ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs) ,
Whistleblower Awards ,
Whistleblowers
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) issued a regulatory notice on Oct. 8, 2021, encouraging its broker-dealer members to review and prepare to incorporate into their own compliance programs the national...more
10/18/2021
/ AML/CFT ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Compliance ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Examination Priorities ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
New Guidance ,
Non-Bank Lenders ,
Nonbank Firms ,
Regulatory Oversight