The Securities and Exchange Commission will strip off the option to “neither admit nor deny” for companies that admit to criminal wrongdoing in securities fraud cases only. The Commission said the changes were made last week after discussions between senior enforcement staff and the Commissioners.
According to a statement from SEC enforcement director Robert Khuzaimi, the new policy is only meant to eliminate language that may be construed as inconsistent with admissions that wrongdoers have already made in the criminal cases. For settlement in civil securities law violations, the agency will continue to use the “neither admit nor deny” settlement process.
