Regulatory Enforcement

A handful of recent enforcement actions brought under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act signal that the Justice Department is expanding the scope of its bribery prosecutions, keeping true on its promise that enforcement will intensify. “It’s clear that we will see an increased number of FCPA prosecutions of both companies and individuals in the next […]

An important federal appeals court has just shed a little more light on how much ammunition workers have when suing corporations under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act for whistleblower retaliation. The California-based Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that two former in-house corporate lawyers can sue their former employer for wrongful termination under SOX, saying the […]

In a new twist on an old statute, the Securities and Exchange Commission brought its first Foreign Corrupt Practices Act action charging control person liability under the Exchange Act. In a July 31 settled enforcement action, the SEC charged a parent corporation, Nature’s Sunshine Products, with violating the FCPA’s anti-bribery, books and records, and internal […]

Those who can’t get enough of the ongoing haggling about how to bring over-the-counter derivatives under the regulatory umbrella are in luck: The Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission announced two joint meetings next month to seek input from the public on the “harmonization of market regulation.” The Obama administration’s plan […]

Corporate legal departments are buzzing about a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling over federal detention policies for would-be terrorists that could inadvertently have profound consequences for corporate litigation. Lawyers increasingly suspect—or worry, depending on which side of the lawsuit you’re on—that the Ashcroft v. Iqbal decision handed down in May could sharply raise the standard […]

The Securities and Exchange Commission recently unveiled more details about its plan to invigorate enforcement, with the announcement of sweeping changes aimed at bringing and resolving cases more quickly. The changes, detailed in an Aug. 5 speech by the agency’s top cop, Enforcement Division Director Robert Khuzami, include a flatter management structure, streamlined processes and […]

Well, it’s finally happened: The Securities and Exchange Commission has decided to claw back money from a chief executive that it believes the CEO should never have received. The Commission filed a civil action on July 22 against Maynard Jenkins, former CEO of CSK Auto Corp., seeking to recoup more than $4 million in bonuses […]

Back in January, U.S. Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-N.Y.) was recognized to speak at a House sub-committee hearing about the Madoff Ponzi scheme and the need for better regulatory oversight to prevent such fraud. He promptly lashed out at a witness from the Securities and Exchange Commission, stating: “I want to know who is responsible for […]

I’m pretty much flabbergasted to learn that (a) someone saw fit to write a play about the Enron scandal, and (b) it is getting rave reviews! Via Enforcement Action’s London bureau (actually, via the Twitter feed of Werner Kranenburg, of London), I learned today that “Enron” the play opened last month in Chichester and starts […]