The SEC brings dozens of financial fraud cases each year. Usually the cases involve companies that, in an effort to make the numbers expected of them by investors, violate GAAP in order to recognize more revenue, hide expenses, inflate assets, etc. In most cases, of course, there is an underlying business at these companies that […]
Bruce Carton
Posted inFrom the Archive
SEC Enforcement Action and Report a Warning Shot to Municipalities on Disclosures
Last week, the SEC filed an enforcement action against the City of Harrisburg, Pa., charging it with securities fraud for making allegedly misleading public statements about its financial condition. According to the administrative proceeding filed by the SEC, Harrisburg is a near-bankrupt city under state receivership that has, as of March 15, 2013, missed approximately $13.9 […]
Posted inFrom the Archive
A Slow Start for the SEC’s Whistleblower Office?
This coming August the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Office of the Whistleblower will turn two years old, but with only one award paid out so far, some are wondering if it is having the intended effect. This office, established by the Dodd-Frank Act, opened its doors to great fanfare in August 2011 and now takes […]
Posted inRegulatory Enforcement
Harbinger Discloses Settlement With SEC Imposing Two-Year Bar on Philip Falcone
In June 2012, the SEC filed a lawsuit against hedge fund adviser Philip Falcone and his advisory firm, Harbinger Capital Partners LLC, for alleged misappropriation of client assets, market manipulation, and betraying clients. Among other things, the SEC alleged that Falcone used hedge fund assets to pay his own taxes, conducted an illegal “short squeeze” to manipulate […]
Posted inRegulatory Enforcement
SEC’s White Testifies Current Budget ‘Not Sufficient,’ Seeks 26% Increase
Yesterday, in her first testimony before Congress as SEC chairman, Mary Jo White made her case for why the SEC’s budget should be increased to $1.674 billion in fiscal year 2014. The $1.674 billion budget request was proposed by President Obama last month, and reflects a more than 26 percent increase over the SEC’s FY 2013 budget of […]
Posted inRegulatory Enforcement
Must-Read: Vanity Fair’s ‘The Hunt for Steve Cohen’
I already gave you a head’s up on the great Moby Dick-themed art that accompanied an article in the June 2013 Vanity Fair entitled, “The Hunt for Steve Cohen.” The article by Bryan Burrough and Bethany McLean is now available online (click here), and it is a terrific, in-depth look at the broad investigation conducted by […]
Posted inRegulatory Enforcement
SEC Enforcement’s David Bergers Leaving Agency After 13 Years
The SEC announced today that David P. Bergers, Acting Deputy Director of the SEC’s Enforcement Division and Director of the Boston Regional Office, will be leaving the SEC this spring after 13 years with the agency. Bergers has served as Acting Deputy Director of Enforcement since January 2013. In that role, he has helped set enforcement […]
Posted inRegulatory Enforcement
SAC’s Cohen Pledges ‘Zero Tolerance’ for Insider Trading, Rolls Out Clawbacks
After months of being “buffeted” by bad news of SAC Capital employees charged with or pleading guilty to insider trading, the firm’s founder, Steve Cohen, is trying to flip the script a bit. Cohen, who this week was characterized by Vanity Fair as the “Moby Dick” to insider trader-hunter Preet Bharara’s “Ahab,” recently authored a […]
Posted inRegulatory Enforcement
Insider Trading Goes Mainstream, Part II: Bharara as Ahab, Steve Cohen as Moby Dick
A year ago I observed that insider trading continued to “go mainstream” as evidenced by Time Magazine giving its cover to Preet Bharara, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. The Time story highlighted Bharara’s efforts to bring “Mob Squad Justice” to Wall Street through tough tactics such as wiretaps in insider trading cases. The June […]
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Kluger Asks Appeals Court to Reduce His Record 12-Year Sentence for Insider Trading
Yesterday in federal appeals court, Matthew Kluger asked the court to reduce his record sentence and help return the title of “longest sentence for insider trading” back to Raj Rajaratnam (11 years). In June 2012, Kluger, an attorney, gained the dubious distinction of receiving the longest sentence ever handed down for insider trading–12 years in prison. U.S. […]
