Throughout the week over at Securities Docket I highlight the most interesting columns and blog posts from around the web on the subjects of SEC enforcement and securities litigation. Here is a digest of my picks for the week ending January 4, 2014. Law 2014: In White Collar Crime, It’s Deja Vu All Over Again Christopher M. Matthews, WSJ […]
Bruce Carton
Posted inRegulatory Enforcement
SEC Enforcement Co-Director George Canellos Leaving Agency
The SEC announced today that George S. Canellos, co-director of its Enforcement Division, will be leaving the agency later this month after over four years of service. Canellos has served as co-director (along with Andrew Ceresney) since April 2013–the first time the Enforcement Division has had co-directors in its nearly 40-year history. The SEC noted that Canellos […]
Posted inRegulatory Enforcement
Is the Mark Cuban Victory Lap Finished or Just Getting Started, Part II
At the end of October 2013 I wrote here about an interesting interview with Mark Cuban immediately following his victory over the SEC in the trial of his insider trading case. In the interview (at the 4:12 mark), Cuban said that he “didn’t win anything today– I just got started today,” and I wondered what Cuban might have planned beyond […]
Posted inRegulatory Enforcement
Defendant Rationalized Insider Trading Was OK Because ‘Members of Congress Can Do It’
I have heard countless rationales through the years for why people engage in insider trading, but here is a new one courtesy of today’s case filed by the SEC (and reportedly soon-to-be-filed by the U.S. Attorney) against a senior portfolio manager at Microsoft Corporation and his friend and business partner. The Microsoft manager learned material, nonpublic […]
Posted inFrom the Archive
2013 SEC Enforcement Stats Show Financial Fraud Cases Continue to Dwindle
The SEC’s just-released enforcement statistics for FY 2013 show that the agency filed just 68 “Financial Fraud/Issuer Disclosure” cases in 2013 (via Francine McKenna). According to data compiled earlier this year by FTI’s Marty Wilczynski, these 68 cases represent the fewest financial fraud cases the agency has brought in at least the last 16 years, […]
Posted inFrom the Archive
‘Well-Positioned’ SEC Releases FY 2013 Enforcement Statistics
Today, the SEC released statistics about its enforcement efforts in fiscal year 2013. For the year ending September 30, 2013, the SEC filed 686 enforcement actions and generated a record $3.4 billion in monetary sanctions against defendants and respondents in its cases. While the total number of enforcement actions is down 7 percent from the same period in 2012, […]
Posted inRegulatory Enforcement
Web Watch: Best of the Week Ending December 14
Throughout the week over at Securities Docket I highlight the most interesting columns and blog posts from around the web on the subjects of SEC enforcement and securities litigation. Here is a digest of my picks for the week ending December 14, 2014. Criminalizing Insider Trading Promotes Economy-Weakening Egalitarianism Keith Weiner, Forbes The key to fraud is deception. The fraudster […]
Posted inFrom the Archive
The SEC’s Budget: ‘Huge’ or ‘Not Sufficient?’
Like Mary Schapiro before her, SEC Chair Mary Jo White has been adamant from the first days of her term as chairman that the SEC’s budget is inadequate to properly fund the agency. As discussed here, in her first testimony before Congress back in May 2013, White made her case for why the SEC’s FY 2014 […]
Posted inRegulatory Enforcement
Madoff Liquidation Legal and Professional Fees Hit $823 Million … and Rising
Almost exactly one year ago, The Wall Street Journal reported that the BakerHostetler, the law firm working on behalf of the trustee responsible for the liquidation of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC., had already been paid more than $300 million for its work on the Madoff matter. Fast forward one year. According to an article in today’s […]
Posted inFrom the Archive
SEC Whistleblower Program Shifts Into High Gear
The Securities and Exchange Commission’s 2013 Annual Report to Congress on the Dodd-Frank Whistleblower Program, issued in November, indicates that the program is hitting its stride as it concludes a second full year in operation. The SEC reported that the number of whistleblower tips and complaints it received during fiscal year 2013 rose 8 percent […]
