Regulatory Enforcement

2008 marked another banner year for Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement, and with roughly 100 open investigations in the pipeline, 2009 is likely to be just as busy for enforcers of the anti-bribery statute. That’s according to a review of FCPA enforcement actions by the law firm Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, which reports a combined […]

The Supreme Court issued only one significant decision about securities litigation in 2008, ruling that shareholders cannot sue third parties that helped a company commit fraud. But securities lawyers expect a much more portentous 2009. First, courts will continue to apply the 2008 decision—Stoneridge Investment Partners v. Scientific-Atlanta—to other class-action securities lawsuits winding through the […]

The rules of legal discovery in the Internet and e-mail era are rapidly developing for civil litigation. But in the realm of criminal investigations—where the stakes can be far higher—the law still leaves corporations flailing without any way to protect electronic data, even if it belongs to innocent third parties. The recent Ninth Circuit Court […]

Compliance with the False Claims Act, always a headache for government contractors, could swell into a permanent migraine in 2009. Legislation is winding through Congress to amend the FCA, which is the government’s primary tool to combat fraud in procurement. Observers say the changes would drastically expand the statute, sweep many more companies under its […]

As expected, president-elect Barack Obama has named regulatory veteran Mary Schapiro, chief executive of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, as his pick to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission. Prior to taking the helm of FINRA, the self regulatory organization formed by the 2007 merger of the regulatory arms of the National Association of Securities […]

By now you’ve read thousands of articles speculating on what an Obama Administration will mean for the world, for America, and for your business. These pundits (including us) have viewed President-elect Obama as the creative architect, and everyone is trying to sneak a peek at his plans. We’d like to suggest, however, that after you’re […]

  If you want a glimpse into just how weird complaints, schemes, and allegations of insider trading can be, consider the following. In 2003, the Securities and Exchange Commission actually published the Q&A guidance below on its Website:   Question: Is the Andrew Carlssin case for real? Answer: Many investors and other members of the […]

Bad news for anyone worried about violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act: An already tough-to-sell affirmative defense under the law is now even harder to use, thanks to a recent court ruling. A federal district court judge in New York ruled last month that the FCPA’s local-law defense—where payment to a foreign official is […]

As discussed in the prior post, “Legal Insider Trading?” (click here), I reached out to the SEC to get its take on the significance and implications of the assertion that corporate disclosures going out over the same PR wire service are being delivered at different times to investors. To briefly recap, a recent article by […]

With the global financial crisis accelerating calls for regulatory reform in the United States, new plans for how best to revamp the U.S. system seem to emerge nearly every day. The latest to enter the fray of those offering their two cents on how to overhaul financial regulation is Commodity Futures Trading Commission Acting Chairman […]