Regulatory Enforcement
Investor Group Offers Views on Reg Reforms
A high-profile group of investors, led by two former Securities and Exchange Commission chairmen, has published its own views on how best to reform regulation of the U.S. financial markets, which include calling for the creation of an independent Systemic Risk Oversight Board. The Investors’ Working Group, sponsored by the CFA Institute Center for Financial […]
Answering Lingering Questions in Madoff Wake
On June 29, federal judge Denny Chin handed down the sentence heard ’round the world: 150 years in prison for Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff. The sentence was the maximum possible for the massive fraud that Madoff, 71, confessed to in December 2008. It was also an order of magnitude larger than the 12 years in […]
Multi-state Attorneys General Investigations Gain Steam
Federal regulators are not the only ones flexing their muscles against Corporate America these days. State attorneys general are increasingly joining forces to go after corporate wrongdoers, too. “Obviously, as we have seen over the last several years, attorneys general have become much more aggressive in the way they pursue investigations,” Hector Gonzalez, a lawyer […]
FSA Plans to Treble Fines
Financial firms that fall foul of the U.K’s lead regulator face a three-fold increase in fines under its plan to get tougher with wrongdoers. The Financial Services Authority (FSA), which said recently it wanted firms to be more frightened by its enforcement powers, said its proposed new penalty regime reflected its determination to change behavior. […]
FTC Decision Jolts Collection of Customer Data
A proposed settlement between the Federal Trade Commission and Sears Holdings Corp. could portend a new wave of enforcement actions against companies that deceptively collect consumer information. The settlement raps Sears Holdings—which owns both Sears and K-Mart—for enticing visitors to the stores’ Websites to enroll in a special “My SHC Community” program where they downloaded […]
SEC IG Offers Reform Ideas to Congress
The Securities and Exchange Commission’s Inspector General offered lawmakers some ideas for revamping the federal securities laws, including extending the regulatory jurisdiction of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board and amending the Investment Advisers Act to require the use of independent custodians by investment advisers and hedge funds. The recommendations, detailed in a June 30 […]
Credit Crisis Class-Action Suits Skyrocket
Corporate America, brace yourself: The unending fallout of the global financial crisis continues to drive a wide range of complicated and highly aggressive securities litigation. Worse yet, filing activity shows no signs of slowing down. According to a recent report by NERA Economic Consulting, litigation related to the credit crisis-related skyrocketed from 69 cases in […]
Cutting Your e-Discovery Costs
One of the biggest beefs companies have with corporate litigation has been the rise in discovery costs, especially as Corporate America has entered the electronic era and creates exponentially more information to search. But many times, it’s the lawyers themselves who make the process more expensive than it needs to be. That was the message […]
