On October 6, 2021, the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) announced the creation of a National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team (“NCET” or “Team”) to tackle investigations and prosecutions of criminal misuses of...more
In a speech before the Aspen Security Forum on August 3, 2021, Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC” or “Commission”) Chair Gary Gensler urged lawmakers to provide him with the power to police cryptocurrency trading,...more
The push on environmental, social, and governance (“ESG”) disclosures has increased in the past several years, with these disclosures becoming a particular focus of the Biden Administration, the Securities and Exchange...more
Many companies registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC” or “Commission”), whether as a public company, an investment adviser, or a broker-dealer, will undergo an inquiry or a formal investigation by the...more
On June 11, 2021, the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, a division of the Office of Management and Budget, released the Spring 2021 Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions,[1] which includes...more
On April 14, 2021, the U.S. Senate confirmed the nomination of Gary Gensler as the 33rd Chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC” or “Commission”). This change will bring forth a Democratic majority at the...more
4/16/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
CFTC ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Fraud ,
FSOC ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs)
On December 8, 2020, the U.S. House of Representatives approved final passage of a $740.5 billion annual defense policy bill, the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (“National...more
On Sept. 23, 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC or Commission) adopted amendments to the rules that govern its whistleblower program in a 3-2 vote. Since the program’s inception 10 years ago, original...more
On September 10, 2020, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC or Commission) announced the issuance of new, public, staff-level guidance by its Division of Enforcement (Division) that outlines factors to be considered...more
On August 26, 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC or Commission) decided in a 3-2 vote to adopt amendments to modernize the disclosure required under Item 101, Description of Business; Item 103, Legal...more
On June 22, 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) Antitrust Division announced that they have signed an interagency Memorandum of Understanding...more
On June 22, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its highly anticipated decision in Liu v. Securities and Exchange Commission, which found that disgorgement awards that do not exceed a wrongdoer’s net profits (gross profits...more
7/2/2020
/ 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 11, 2020 the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC), one of Canada’s provincial securities regulators, issued a report finding that QuadrigaCX (Quadriga), which went into bankruptcy a few months after founder and CEO...more
On March 25, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Division of Corporate Finance (CorpFin) issued Disclosure Guidance Topic No. 9, which provides its views on disclosure and other securities law obligations companies...more
On March 25, 2020, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC or Commission) issued an order that updated its March 4 order to extend the conditional exemptions from reporting and proxy delivery requirements for...more
3/30/2020
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Filing Deadlines ,
Filing Requirements ,
Form 8-K ,
Proxy Statements ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Relief Measures ,
Required Forms ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation
In the largest anticorruption enforcement action in history, aerospace provider Airbus Group SE (Airbus) – the second-largest aerospace provider in the world – agreed to pay nearly $4 billion to resolve foreign bribery and...more
Last week, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed its brief in Liu v. SEC, claiming that disgorgement in federal courts is within its statutory authority and that the U.S. Supreme Court should not disrupt...more
On Sept. 25, 2019, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted previously proposed Rule 163B under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, to expand the use of “test-the-waters” (TTW) communications – which,...more
On June 18, 2019, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requested public comment on “Harmonization of Securities Offerings Exemptions” – specifically, with regard to certain exemptions from registration under the...more
On May 2, 2019, Judge Colleen McMahon of the Southern District of New York ruled that the government effectively outsourced a portion of its ongoing investigation of LIBOR manipulation at one financial institution (the Bank)...more
6/28/2019
/ Banks ,
CFTC ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Deferred Prosecution Agreements ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Fifth Amendment ,
Financial Institutions ,
Internal Investigations ,
Libor ,
Motion to Vacate ,
Self-Incrimination
On February 19, 2019, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) voted to propose a new rule under the Securities Act of 1933 (the Securities Act), and amendments to Rule 405 (together, the Proposed Rule), to expand the...more
3/29/2019
/ Accredited Investors ,
Comment Period ,
Emerging Growth Companies ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Investment Companies ,
Proposed Rules ,
Qualified Institutional Buyers ,
Registration Statement ,
Securities Act of 1933 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Testing-the-Waters Communications
Welcome to the 2017 Year-End Report from the BakerHostetler Securities Litigation and Regulatory Enforcement Practice Team.
The purpose of this report is to provide a periodic survey of matters we believe to be of interest...more
Welcome to the 2017 Mid-Year Report from the BakerHostetler Securities Litigation and Regulatory Enforcement Practice Team.
The purpose of this report is to provide a periodic survey – in addition to our Practice Team...more
7/31/2017
/ Broker-Dealer ,
CFTC ,
Commodities ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Hedge Funds ,
Insider Trading ,
Internal Reporting ,
Investment Adviser ,
Kokesh v SEC ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Litigation ,
SLUSA ,
Whistleblower Protection Policies ,
Whistleblowers
The Securities and Exchange Commission recently announced that ten investment advisory firms agreed to pay penalties in the tens of thousands of dollars to settle SEC charges that they violated the SEC’s pay-to-play rule,...more
Welcome to the 2016 Year-End Report from the BakerHostetler Securities Litigation and Regulatory Enforcement Practice Team.
The purpose of this Report is to provide a periodic survey, apart from our team Executive...more
2/1/2017
/ Broker-Dealer ,
CFTC ,
Commodities ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Markets ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Futures ,
Hedge Funds ,
Insider Trading ,
Investment Adviser ,
Popular ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Litigation ,
SLUSA ,
Whistleblower Awards ,
Whistleblower Protection Policies ,
Whistleblowers