Regulatory Enforcement

Arecent flurry of class action lawsuit dismissals might lead you to believe that federal judges have become fed up with seemingly frivolous lawsuits. But the overall trend for dismissals is still down, and the “types” of the latest dismissals provide that the plaintiffs can—and likely will—refile their cases. In the past few weeks alone, at […]

Reports this month that the Securities and Exchange Commission is threatening to fine Morgan Stanley more than $10 million for failing to keep certain email highlights the perils that exist for companies that fail to manage electronic communications properly. Yelton The risks that organizations face when it comes to email retention—or failing to have and […]

Arecent ruling by a federal appeals court provides a pointed reminder to companies that they need to be careful when conducting investigations to ensure that they don’t give up the flexibility to fully cooperate with regulators and prosecutors. Although it has become commonplace for companies to agree to cooperate with government investigators, that pledge can […]

Afederal judge in New York has issued the first rebuke of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s efforts to enforce Regulation Fair Disclosure—which bars U.S. companies from selectively disclosing to securities analysts material information that has not been made available to the public. Under “Reg. FD,” an issuer making an intentional disclosure of material, nonpublic information […]

Arecent ruling by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals is expected to prompt changes in the way the Securities and Exchange Commission crafts one of its most widely used enforcement tools, experts say. In a footnote near the end of its opinion in SEC v. Smyth, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit […]

The U.S. arm of Big Four firm KPMG has agreed to pay $456 million in penalties in three installments over the next 16 months, to admit to a single count of conspiracy to commit tax fraud, and to accept an outside monitor of its operations as part of a deal with the government to avoid […]

The civil fraud charges levied by the Securities and Exchange Commission against former Kmart chief executive officer Charles Conaway and former chief financial officer John McDonald are the latest sign that the SEC is keeping its promise to carefully scrutinize the disclosures made by companies in the Management’s Discussion and Analysis section of their periodic […]

Morningstar Inc. is taking an unconventional approach to investor relations by forgoing conference calls and meetings with analysts. Instead, the Chicago-based research firm is offering investors a chance to ask and have answered questions about the company in a monthly, public, question-and-answer session. The $179.7 million company, which completed an initial public offering in May, […]