Regulatory Enforcement

Amid continuing discussions among lawmakers and regulators about how to reform the U.S. financial regulatory system, the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission says enforcement, and in particular, cooperation with overseas securities regulators on enforcement matters, remains a top priority. The SEC has been working closely with its international regulatory counterparts to “coordinate our […]

I was a lawyer in the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Enforcement from 1995 to 1997, a time perhaps most notable for being the infancy of the public’s use of the Internet. When I first arrived at the SEC, our online resources consisted of a single station that we called a “Bridge machine” that […]

Foreign issuers can breathe easier these days, thanks to a recent federal appeals court ruling that threw cold water onto the legal oddity of so-called “F-cubed” lawsuits in U.S. courts. Such lawsuits—disputes between foreign plaintiffs and foreign issuers over a foreign securities transaction that still somehow end up in U.S. courts—have been a growing concern […]

This paper from NERA that provides an overview of trends they have identified in the number of settlements and settlement values in the six years since the passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

It’s a narrative compliance executives hear all too often: A company becomes the center of a Securities and Exchange Commission probe. The stock price then tanks, the press goes on a feeding frenzy, and senior management is left to pick up the pieces. And that can be the outcome when the probe just ends without […]

The Federal Trade Commission has delayed enforcement of the “Red Flags Rule,” which requires creditors and financial institutions to develop and implement written identity theft prevention programs, for six months. The final rule, issued last year by the FTC, the federal bank regulatory agencies, and the National Credit Union Administration as part of the Fair […]

On October 20, 2008, the SEC announced that it had filed a settled enforcement action alleging insider trading against Brian D. Ladin, a former analyst for a hedge fund called Bonanza Master Fund Ltd. (“Bonanza”), in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The SEC’s complaint alleges that Ladin engaged in insider trading […]

The SEC announced today that it brought 671 enforcement actions in its fiscal year 2008 (ended Sept. 30, 2008), the second-highest number of enforcement actions in agency history. It also announced that for the second year in a row, it returned more than $1 billion to harmed investors through Fair Fund distributions. Some of the […]

Some recommended reading for anyone who might have occasion to chat with the staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Enforcement Division: The commission has published for the first time a 129-page enforcement manual that sets out the staff’s expectations when it requests information. SEC spokesman John Nester says the manual was published based on […]

Still in the thick of the recent financial turmoil, the Securities and Exchange Commission began its new fiscal year Oct. 1, with as much uncertainty about its future as there has been in many years. There are far more questions than answers right now. What should be its priorities? Cleaning up the sub-prime mess? Financial […]