Cue the sad trombone music. The website for Corp Law Blog (www.corplawblog.com), a former member of corporate and securities blog royalty, has been turned into some kind of a odd link farm for a narcotics addiction recovery website As I described Corp Law Blog here back in 2008, In 2003, when even the word “blog” was […]
Bruce Carton
Posted inFrom the Archive
FY 2014 Appropriations Act Cuts SEC’s $50M Reserve Fund in Half
H.R. 3547, the omnibus 2014 spending bill passed by Congress and signed into law by President Obama last week, contains more bad news for the SEC than just the meager 2% increase it provides for the SEC’s budget. As noted here by Dina ElBoghdady of the The Washington Post, the new law also contains a provision that […]
Posted inRegulatory Enforcement
‘Confide’ App Brings Disappearing Messages to the Corporate World
I previously discussed here how traders have picked up on the idea that the disappearing message service Snapchat may be a way to share insider trading tips without leaving a trail. Now a service called Confide wants to take the concept of disappearing messages deeper into the corporate world. Confide states its mission as follows: Off-the […]
Posted inRegulatory Enforcement
Almost 100%: Ivory Soap, Walter White’s Blue Meth and Takeover Litigation
It is hard to make anything 100% pure. Ivory Soap famously falls just short at 99.44% pure. Even Breaking Bad’s Walter White could not get his blue-tinted methamphetamine purer than 99.1%. We appear to be closing in quickly, however, on the 100% level in one area of law: takeover litigation. According to a recent study by professors Matthew […]
Posted inRegulatory Enforcement
SEC to Receive 2% Budget Increase in FY 2014, Far Below 26% Requested Increase
On Monday night, the House and Senate revealed details of the $1.1 trillion spending bill they expect to pass later this week. The bill seems to be both good news and bad news for the SEC–with more bad than good. First, the (moderately) good news: in connection with this bill, the House plans to avoid another […]
Posted inRegulatory Enforcement
A Look Back at the Significant Enforcement Developments of 2013
2013 was the latest in a string of busy years for securities enforcement and litigation, and also a year of turnover in the leadership ranks of the primary regulators in this area—the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Department of Justice. As we usher in 2014, here is a look back at the most important […]
Posted inRegulatory Enforcement
MoFo’s ‘2013 Insider Trading Annual Review’
I stumbled upon a great insider trading resource today: Morrison Foerster’s 2013 Insider Trading Annual Review. (I’m choosing to forgive myself for not knowing that this is at least the third year that MoFo has put out this Annual Review–here are links to 2011; and 2012). The Annual Review includes a nice summary of the year’s key […]
Posted inRegulatory Enforcement
Webcast: SEC Enforcement – Key Developments in 2013
Yesterday, I hosted an interesting webcast with a panel of four former SEC senior officials and accountants that analyzed the key developments in the SEC enforcement world in 2013, and also offered many insights into what to expect from the SEC in 2014. The panel featured WilmerHale partners Bill McLucas and Doug Davison, as well […]
Posted inRegulatory Enforcement
SEC Enforcement’s Osnato Named Chief of Renamed ‘Complex Financial Instruments Unit’
The SEC announced yesterday that Michael J. Osnato, Jr. has been named chief of the Enforcement Division’s Complex Financial Instruments Unit. The Complex Financial Instruments Unit was previously known as the Structured and New Products Unit. The Complex Financial Instruments Unit was created in January 2010 along with four other specialized enforcement units (Asset Management; Market Abuse; Foreign Corrupt Practices; and Municipal Securities […]
Posted inFrom the Archive
Must-Watch: PBS Frontline’s ‘To Catch a Trader’ Airs Tonight
Cancel your plans for 10 pm Eastern tonight because that is when PBS’ Frontline series returns with what promises to be a fascinating look at the DOJ and the SEC’s recent crackdown on insider trading. Tonight’s program (“To Catch a Trader”) includes detailed interviews with FBI agents, traders, hedge fund executives, journalists and others who provide […]
