Today at 2:30 pm ET, the U.S. Senate Banking Committee’s Subcommittee on Securities, Insurance, and Investment will hold an important hearing on “Strengthening the SEC’s Vital Enforcement Responsibilities.” The hearing comes just one day after the release of an extraordinary Report to Congressional Requesters by the Government Accountability Office (that bears the unextraordinary title of […]
Bruce Carton
Posted inRegulatory Enforcement
Specialization Key to SEC Enforcement Division Overhaul
In last month’s column, I noted the arrival of a new Securities and Exchange Commission enforcement director, Robert Khuzami. I suggested that Khuzami had to hit the ground running and discussed the flood of suggestions from within the SEC and from the outside that Khuzami had already received as to what he should prioritize and […]
Posted inFrom the Archive
SEC “Lawyering Down”
You’ve heard of “lawyering up?” Well, we’re coining a new phrase today: “Lawyering down.” That is what the SEC appears to be trying hard to achieve as it recreates itself under Mary Schapiro. In his remarks today before the Mutual Fund Directors Forum Ninth Annual Policy Conference, SEC Commissioner Troy A. Paredes deviated from his […]
Posted inFrom the Archive
SEC: Massive Insider Trading Case vs. Banker and Friends
The SEC announced a massive insider trading case today against Maher Kara, a former Citigroup investment banker, his brother, and six other individuals. The SEC alleges that Maher Kara repeatedly tipped his brother about upcoming merger deals in a scheme that involved numerous friends and family and resulted in more than $6 million in illicit […]
Posted inFrom the Archive
SEC’s Office of Risk Assessment Looks to Ramp Up
The SEC’s seemingly “on again, off again” risk assessment efforts are back in the spotlight, as the SEC announced today that it is embarking on a new effort to attract industry professionals to the Office of Risk Assessment. The SEC announced a new “Industry and Markets Fellows Program” intended to help it “oversee complex industry […]
Posted inFrom the Archive
“SEC Joins Twitter!!!” Oh, Wait…
If enough members of the media say something, does that eventually cause it to become a “fact,” regardless of whether it is based in reality or not? On Monday, the L.A. Times’ Technology Blog “broke” the news that the SEC had joined Twitter (“SEC tweets: Fraud cops join Twitter”). The L.A. Times reported that among […]
Posted inFrom the Archive
TRO Requests, Wells Process, FCPA Among Key SEC Issues
On Tuesday, April 21, 2009, Michael MacPhail of Holland & Hart and Patrick Hunnius of White & Case discussed key issues emerging from the SEC’s Enforcement Division, and the impact of these issues on regulated entities and the lawyers who represent them. MacPhail and Hunnius are both former senior attorneys with the SEC’s Division of […]
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India’s CBI: Auditors Aware of Satyam Misstatements
Things may start to get even uglier for PwC over in India, as India’s Central Bureau of Investigation (its equivalent of the FBI) now alleges that two auditors from PwC’s India-based office were aware that Satyam’s financial statements were being misstated, but still signed off the figures in return for an “exorbitant audit fee.” The […]
Posted inFrom the Archive
Your Questions for the SEC’s Division of Enforcement?
George Curtis, the Deputy Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement, will participate in an April 28, 2009, webcast entitled “Inside the SEC Enforcement Division: Current and Former SEC and DOJ Prosecutors Discuss Important Changes Ahead.” Sponsored by KPMG Forensic and also featuring Pamela Parizek of KPMG Forensic and David Seide of the law firm […]
Posted inFrom the Archive
Senators Propose Additional $20mn for SEC Enforcement
Just days after it was reported that the SEC’s Enforcement Division is “well down” in head count from prior years and stuck in a holding-pattern until Congress approves its new budget, two senior U.S. Senators proposed that the Enforcement Division receive $20 million in additional funds to hire more enforcement staff and upgrade its technology […]