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Category Archives: Securities and Commodities

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Compliance, Enforcement and Prosecution Policy and Trends, Financial Institution Regulation, Securities and Commodities

SEC Enforcement Co-Directors Issue Statement on Insider Trading

Under the leadership of U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Jay Clayton, the SEC’s Division of Enforcement has made the protection of Main Street investors its overarching priority.  On March 23, 2020, Division of Enforcement Co-Directors Stephanie Avakian and Steven Peikin issued a statement to financial market participants re-emphasizing the SEC’s commitment to safeguard the… Continue Reading
Compliance, Securities and Commodities

COVID-19: Securities Regulators and Industry Associations Issue Coronavirus Guidance and Relief

Update: Our May 21, 2020, alert provides our most recent discussion of information and guidance issued by the SEC, FINRA, MSRB and SIFMA. As the Coronavirus, or COVID-19, continues to spread, the widespread impact on the markets, trading, firm operations, compliance obligations – every facet of the market, firms, and individuals working in the industry… Continue Reading
Compliance, Securities and Commodities

FINRA 2.0: FINRA Releases Its 2020 Risk Monitoring and Examination Priorities

FINRA’s examination program has undergone its most significant reorganization in decades. As stated in a press release, Oct. 1, 2018, FINRA’s goal for the reorganization was to “consolidate its Examination and Risk Monitoring Programs, integrating three separate programs into a single, unified program to drive more effective oversight and greater consistency, eliminate duplication and create… Continue Reading
Compliance, Securities and Commodities

SEC 2020 National Exam Program Examination Priorities

On January 7, 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) released its 2020 examination priorities.  OCIE is prioritizing practices, products, and services that it believes present heightened risks to investors or market integrity.  The examination priorities are organized around seven themes, many of which build on OCIE’s priorities from… Continue Reading
Enforcement and Prosecution Policy and Trends, Financial Institution Regulation, Securities and Commodities

SEC Continues Compensation Disclosure Focus With FAQs and Enforcement

On Oct. 18, 2019, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Division of Investment Management staff published Frequently Asked Questions Regarding Disclosure of Certain Financial Conflicts Related to Investment Adviser Compensation (FAQs). Many in the industry view the FAQs as overdue SEC guidance in an area that has been a focus of the SEC Division of… Continue Reading
Financial Institution Regulation, Securities and Commodities

The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same –Joint Statement by FINRA and the SEC on the Customer Protection Rule and Digital Asset Securities

On Monday, July 8th, FINRA and the SEC took the unusual step of issuing a joint statement on broker-dealer custody of digital asset securities. In doing so, the Staffs of the SEC’s Division of Trading and Markets and of FINRA’s Office of General Counsel made clear that the SEC and FINRA will continue to apply… Continue Reading
Securities and Commodities

D.C. Circuit Vacates SEC Sanctions, Says Negligent Omissions Are Not ‘Willful’ Under Advisers Act

On April 30, the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit vacated a Securities and Exchange Commission order imposing sanctions. The court held that an investment advisory firm and its owners did not violate Section 207 of the Investment Advisers Act of 1930, 15 U.S.C. § 80b-7, by negligently omitting material facts from the… Continue Reading
Securities and Commodities

SEC OCIE Highlights Potential Deficiencies in Firm Privacy Policies

On April 16, the SEC’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (“OCIE”) issued a Risk Alert highlighting Regulation S-P compliance deficiencies and issues it found in recent examinations of broker-dealers and investment advisers. Regulation S-P is the primary SEC rule detailing the safeguards these firms must take to protect customer privacy. The Risk Alert provides… Continue Reading
Financial Institution Regulation, Securities and Commodities

Recent New Jersey Rule Proposal Progresses State Efforts to Impose Fiduciary Duties on Brokers

On April 15, the New Jersey Bureau of Securities (the “Bureau”) issued a rule proposal to establish a uniform fiduciary duty standard applicable to investment advisers, brokers-dealers and their registered representatives and agents.  Specifically, the proposed rule (N.J.A.C. 13:47A-6.4), which could take effect as early as the end of the year, will require all investment… Continue Reading
Enforcement and Prosecution Policy and Trends, Financial Institution Regulation, Securities and Commodities

SEC Charges Its First Robo Actions – Increasing Scrutiny of the Investment Platform

It was never a question of if, but rather, when the Securities and Exchange Commission would launch its first charges against robo-advisors and what those charges would be. Following then-SEC Chairperson, Mary Jo White’s keynote address at the SEC-Rock Center on Corporate Governance in 2016, regulators have been carefully monitoring robo-advisors’ compliance with the Investment… Continue Reading
Enforcement and Prosecution Policy and Trends, Financial Institution Regulation, Securities and Commodities

Does United States v. Ying Expand the Knowledge Requirement for “Classical” Insider Trading?

On March 14, 2018, the SEC and DOJ sued Jun Ying, a former Chief Information Officer within an Equifax Inc. business unit, for insider trading. Specifically, they accused him of knowing about a significant Equifax data breach prior to its public disclosure and, while in possession of that material nonpublic information, exercising his Equifax options… Continue Reading
Enforcement and Prosecution Policy and Trends, Securities and Commodities

SEC to Begin Regulating Initial Coin Offerings More Heavily

On November 16, 2017, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Jay Clayton announced in a symposium on cybersecurity and financial crimes that the SEC would start taking enforcement action against coin offering issuers who fail to register with the SEC. As cryptocurrencies, like Bitcoin, have become increasingly popular, startup companies have turned to a… Continue Reading
Enforcement and Prosecution Policy and Trends, Financial Institution Regulation, Securities and Commodities, Uncategorized

SEC Approves New PCAOB Standard

Recently, the SEC approved the PCAOB’s new auditor reporting standard, AS 3101, The Auditor’s Report on an Audit of Financial Statements When the Auditor Expresses an Unqualified Opinion. Hailed as the most significant change to the auditor report’s format in over 70 years, AS 3101 significantly changes the format of the existing auditor’s report, arming… Continue Reading
Enforcement and Prosecution Policy and Trends, Securities and Commodities

U.S. Supreme Court Rules Time Limits Apply to SEC Disgorgement Orders

A unanimous United States Supreme Court held Monday, in Kokesh v. Securities and Exchange Commission, that the five-year statute of limitations under 28 U.S.C. § 2462 applies to disgorgement sought by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Previously, the Circuits had been split on this issue. The issue in Kokesh was straightforward. Kokesh appealed a trial… Continue Reading
Financial Institution Regulation, Securities and Commodities

FINRA President and CEO Robert Cook discusses FINRA360 and Consolidating Enforcement Divisions

On May 17, 2017, at the annual FINRA conference in Washington D.C., FINRA President and CEO Robert Cook discussed the recently-launched FINRA360 initiative: a top-to-bottom review of FINRA’s operations and organization.  Cook recognized that 2017 marks FINRA’s  ten-year anniversary since its “successful” but “complicated” merger of the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) and the… Continue Reading
Anti-Money Laundering, Enforcement and Prosecution Policy and Trends, Securities and Commodities

SEC Opens Cease-and-Desist Order Proceeding against Broker-Dealer and Chief Compliance / AML Officer

As we have highlighted in prior posts, regulators of financial institutions, including FinCEN, FINRA and SEC, have increasingly brought actions to bring organizations – and individuals – into compliance with AML / BSA obligations.  This enforcement activity is consistent with FinCEN’s August 2014 Advisory, now nearly three years old, emphasizing the idea that U.S. financial institutions… Continue Reading
Compliance, Securities and Commodities

SEC Annual Exam Guidance: Cybersecurity, Robo-Advising, and Retirement

The SEC recently announced its Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations’ (OCIE) 2017 priorities.  Though these listed priorities are not exhaustive and remain flexible in light of market conditions, industry developments, and ongoing risk assessment, it is helpful for companies to keep these items in mind when evaluating securities compliance programs in 2017. The 2017… Continue Reading
Anti-Bribery and Corruption, Compliance, Securities and Commodities

DOJ’s First Corporate Enforcement Action Under Pilot Program

In April 2016, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced its Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Enforcement Plan and Guidance, which includes a one-year pilot program to incentivize individuals and companies to voluntarily self-disclose Foreign Corrupt Practices Act-related (FCPA) misconduct, cooperate with DOJ investigations and remediate controls and compliance programs.  Under the guidance, the DOJ may extend… Continue Reading
Enforcement and Prosecution Policy and Trends, Financial Institution Regulation, Securities and Commodities

A Circuit Split is Born. Eleventh Circuit Rules Declaratory Relief and Disgorgement Sought by the SEC Are Subject to 5-Year Statute of Limitations. Injunctive Relief is Not.

On May 26th, the Eleventh Circuit held that declaratory relief and disgorgement sought by the SEC are subject to the 5-year statute of limitations under 28 U.S.C. § 2462, but injunctive relief is not.  The court’s holding that § 2462 applies to disgorgement creates two circuit splits:  one with the D.C. Circuit, which has held… Continue Reading
Compliance, Enforcement and Prosecution Policy and Trends, Securities and Commodities

The SDNY Provides Guidance on a Company’s Duty to Disclose Government Investigations

Due to the absence of instructive case law and interpretative guidance from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), companies are often left in the dark with regard to whether and/or when they should publicly disclose that they are under investigation.  The Southern District of New York recently provided much-needed guidance on the issue. On… Continue Reading
Election and Political Law, Enforcement and Prosecution Policy and Trends, Fraud, Deception and False Claims, Securities and Commodities

AN IMPORTANT CHECK ON THE ABUSE OF GOVERNMENT AUTHORITY

As citizens of a nation founded on the rule of law, we depend upon law enforcement and prosecutors to protect us from harm and from those who infringe our liberty.  In exchange for this protection, we permit these public servants to exercise authority and at times great power.  Thankfully, and it should go without saying,… Continue Reading
Enforcement and Prosecution Policy and Trends, Fraud, Deception and False Claims, Securities and Commodities

SEC Describes Recent Efforts to Combat Pyramid Schemes and Affinity Frauds

Over the past two years, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has stepped up enforcement actions against pyramid schemes and related affinity frauds. Last week, in a speech at the University of Illinois at Chicago, Andrew Ceresney, director of the SEC’s Enforcement Division, addressed his division’s most recent efforts to combat these frauds. In particular,… Continue Reading
Anti-Bribery and Corruption, Compliance, Enforcement and Prosecution Policy and Trends, Securities and Commodities

Key Takeaways From This Year’s Early FCPA Enforcement Actions

February has been a big month for U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) enforcement. It started with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) quietly resolving a string of relatively small matters.  Then, at the end of last week, the SEC and U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) entered into a global resolution with VimpelCom in… Continue Reading

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