The unusual Toby Scammell insider trading saga ended yesterday when Scammell finally pleaded guilty to securities fraud that involved him making $192,000 by trading on inside information. Last month, Scammell also agreed to settle the SEC’s civil case against him by paying over $800,000. Back in August 2011, the SEC sued Scammell, alleging that he […]
Bruce Carton
Posted inRegulatory Enforcement
SEC to Launch Cybersecurity Exams of Investment Firms, Offers Sample Document Requests
On April 15, 2014, the SEC’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations quietly disclosed its examination module pertaining to cybersecurity. The disclosure came in the form of a Risk Alert providing “additional information concerning [OCIE’s] initiative to assess cybersecurity preparedness in the securities industry.” OCIE stated in the Risk Alert that it will be conducting examinations of more than […]
Posted inFrom the Archive
SEC’s David Gottesman Named Deputy Chief Litigation Counsel
The SEC announced this week that David J. Gottesman has been named Deputy Chief Litigation Counsel in the Division of Enforcement. Gottesman joined the SEC in 2004 and was first promoted to a supervisory role in the trial unit in 2011. As Deputy Chief Litigation counsel, Gottesman will work directly under Matthew C. Solomon, Chief Litigation Counsel, […]
Posted inRegulatory Enforcement
SEC Employee’s Goodbye Party Leads to More than Cake and Farewells
On March 27, a group of about 70 people gathered at a goodbye party for retiring SEC attorney James Kidney. Kidney joined the SEC in 1986 and worked at the agency until March 2014 with the exception of a four-year period when he worked at Aetna Inc. Somehow, Kidney’s goodbye party departed from standard employee […]
Posted inRegulatory Enforcement
SEC Adds Two New Defendants to the Familial Betrayal Tree
On March 31, 2014, the SEC brought two unrelated cases that they announced together because of the common denominator noted in the headline of the SEC’s press release: “SEC Charges Two Men With Insider Trading on Confidential Information From Their Wives” As the founder, chairman and CEO of the Familial Betrayal Advisory System here at […]
Posted inRegulatory Enforcement
Why Law Firms Are a Breeding Ground for Insider Trading
The Securities and Exchange Commission announced in March the latest in a growing list of insider-trading cases involving information pilfered from major law firms. If law firms that handle corporate cases and transactions were not already alarmed that their clients’ confidential information could be targeted by individuals inside and outside of the firm, they should […]
Posted inRegulatory Enforcement
Award Payment to SEC’s First-Ever Whistleblower Quadruples
In August 2012, the SEC broke new ground when it issued its first-ever whistleblower award under Dodd-Frank. The $50,000 award came pursuant to a provision in Dodd-Frank that authorized the SEC’s whistleblower program to reward individuals who provided it with high-quality original information that led to an SEC enforcement action in which more than $1 […]
Posted inRegulatory Enforcement
SEC Chair White Testifies for FY 2015 Budget, Details Enforcement Initiatives
Yesterday, SEC Chair Mary Jo White gave testimony before a subcommittee of the House Committee on Appropriations in support of President Obama’s fiscal year 2015 budget request for the SEC to receive $1.7 billion. As she has done in other recent statements on the SEC’s budget, Chair White warned that the SEC needs a meaningful increase […]
Posted inRegulatory Enforcement
60 Minutes: How High-Frequency Traders Have ‘Rigged’ the U.S. Stock Market
Last night on CBS’ 60 Minutes, Steve Kroft interviewed author Michael Lewis. Lewis’ new book, “Flash Boys,” looks at the subject of high-frequency trading, and presents Lewis’ conclusion that the U.S. stock market is “rigged.” In the report, Kroft and Lewis discuss how virtually all trading is now executed by computers. A group of high-frequency traders, however […]
Posted inAccounting & Auditing
SEC Charges Company and Founder With False Disclosures on Existence of CFO
The SEC announced fraud charges today against L&L Energy Inc., which operates out of China and Taiwan, and its founder for making numerous false disclosures, including a misrepresentation that the company had a CFO at all. According to the SEC, on June 23, 2008, L&L’s founder, Dickson Lee, told the company’s Board that an individual […]
