Regulatory Enforcement

In the latest of our regular Q&As, we talk to Claudius Modesti, enforcement, investigations director for the PCAOB. An index of previous conversations is available here. How big is the enforcement staff at the PCAOB? Right now, we have about 30 professionals in our group, including lawyers, accountants, paralegals, and support staff. We are hiring […]

The Securities and Exchange Commission has levied its first corporate penalties in cases of stock option backdating, portending bad news for other companies embroiled in the widespread scandal. Brocade Communications and Mercury Interactive agreed to pay $7 million and $28 million, respectively, to settle civil charges brought by the SEC related to the backdated stock […]

A Washington state judge has delayed litigation in a stock-option backdating case pending the outcome of parallel federal lawsuits, giving defendants hope that state courts will not march in lockstep to follow a Delaware Chancery Court decision that state and federal suits could be heard at the same time. The Delaware case, Ryan v. Gifford, […]

One newly noted, and well received, trend in corporate litigation these days is a decline in securities fraud class-action lawsuits. But legal experts warn that another ominous trend in securities litigation is brewing to pick up the slack: globalization. More and more overseas investors are participating in U.S. securities class actions—a trend that isn’t likely […]

One newly noted, and well received, trend in corporate litigation these days is a decline in securities fraud class-action lawsuits. But legal experts warn that another ominous trend in securities litigation is brewing to pick up the slack: globalization. More and more overseas investors are participating in U.S. securities class actions—a trend that isn’t likely […]

A recent flurry of insider-trading cases brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission have demonstrated that the regulator has indeed stepped up its enforcement efforts in this area. Several weeks ago, the SEC filed charges against former Oracle vice president Christopher Balkenhol. According to the Commission, Balkenhol learned about secret merger negotiations from his wife, […]

Supporting actors can be just as vital to the success of a corporate fraud as they are to a film. So it’s no surprise that they’re attracting a lot of attention these days. Earlier this month the Securities and Exchange Commission settled aiding-and-abetting charges against a distributor for videogame maker Take Two Interactive Software for […]

An innovative defense against mail and wire fraud that sprung three former Merrill Lynch executives from prison last year has figured prominently again in a fraud case against a former Enron executive and may end up helping defense strategies for many more white-collar crime suspects. Christopher Calger, a former vice president at Enron North America, […]

One year ago, the United Kingdom was playing a leading role in European efforts to crack down on companies paying bribes to overseas officials. The government brought new legislation to Parliament, put a minister in charge of the problem, and created a task force to boost police resources. Most importantly, it was pursuing a high-profile […]

Suddenly, it seems that bribery is not the business practice it used to be in Europe. Credit the scandal of Siemens AG, the German manufacturing giant whose image has been tarred by possible bribery in its telecommunications department. The drumbeat of bad news around Siemens—which first erupted in November, with police raids and the arrest […]