Columbia Law School
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Securities Regulation
No Country Left Behind: History Complicates Efforts to Harmonize Global Regulation
The European Union (EU) enacted a series of regulations in the early 2000s to improve the financial markets of member states. While the new regulations were formally the same across the EU, member countries must individually implement, supervise, and enforce …
Gibson Dunn Discusses Legal Implications of Expanded Use of Blockchain Technology
The use of digital currencies, like Bitcoin, is becoming widespread. To date, much of the focus on digital currencies has been directed at their potential to substitute for or complement fiat currencies, but the true innovation lies in their underlying …
Commissioner Kara Stein Offers a Vision for Data at the SEC
Thank you, Michael [Barr], for that kind introduction. Thank you also to the University of Michigan and the Office of Financial Research for organizing this important conference. I am pleased to be here with you today. This conference is a …
SEC Settlements After Dodd-Frank
On September 23, U.S. District Judge William Pauley refused to approve a settlement between the CFTC and Deutsche Bank covering the bank’s failure to report swaps properly. Instead of rubber-stamping the settlement, the judge asked the parties for additional briefing. …
Regulatory Leveraging: Problem or Solution?
“Nice merger you’ve got here. It would be a shame if anything was to happen to it.”[1]
In antitrust and related areas of economic regulation, private leveraging is risky business. Large firms that use substantial market power in one …
SEC Announces Enforcement Results for 2016
The Securities and Exchange Commission announced on October 11 that, in fiscal year 2016, it filed 868 enforcement actions exposing financial reporting-related misconduct by companies and their executives and misconduct by registrants and gatekeepers, as the agency continued to enhance …
After Salman, Whither Outsiders and Facebook Friends in Insider Trading?
Oral argument in the insider trading case, Salman v. United States, prompted dozens of questions related to the key issue before the U.S Supreme Court: whether an investment banker personally benefitted directly or indirectly when he disclosed to his brother …
Debevoise & Plimpton Discusses SEC Anti-Retaliation Enforcement
Last week, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC” or the “Commission”) announced its second whistleblower retaliation case since the enactment of Dodd-Frank’s anti-retaliation provisions in 2011. The In the Matter of International Game Technology [1] case is also …
Paul Weiss Discusses “Price Maintenance” Ruling in Securities Fraud Case
On September 27, 2016, in related appeals arising from a long-pending securities fraud class action against Vivendi, the Second Circuit ruled on several important issues, including the proof necessary to both sustain and defeat the fraud-on-the-market presumption of reliance.
Most …
Supreme Court Hears Salman Insider Trading Case
The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments today — transcript here — in U.S. v. Salman, the first insider trading case to land before the justices in almost 20 years. The issue: What counts as the “personal benefit” to the …
White & Case Discusses the Rise of Regtech
Regulatory compliance is time consuming and expensive for both financial institutions and regulators—and the complexity and cost is increasing. According to Federal Financial Analytics, a policy analysis firm, the six largest U.S. banks spent $70.2 billion on compliance in 2013, …
Insider Trading: Time for Supreme Court to Ditch Personal Benefit Test
The U.S. Supreme Court has a number of options when it considers its first insider trading case in almost 20 years. The case is Salman v. United States, and oral argument will be held on October 5. The facts …
SEC Enforcement Chief Ceresney Discusses Focus on Auditors and Auditing
Good morning and thank you for that very kind introduction. It’s a pleasure to speak with you all today. Before I start, I must give our standard disclaimer that the views I express today are my own and do not …
Debevoise & Plimpton Discusses Disclosure of Government Investigations
Registrants, particularly those involved in highly regulated industries, frequently must determine whether and when a government investigation and related pending or threatened litigation must be disclosed in its periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). On September …
The Hidden Costs of Rotating Auditors
The avalanche of accounting scandals in the late 1990s and early 2000s triggered major changes in the corporate accounting world. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) stampeded in, promising tightened audit regulation aimed at easing the minds of frightened market …
PwC Discusses New York’s Proposed Cybersecurity Rules
On September 13, 2016, the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) proposed a broad set of cybersecurity regulations for banks, insurers, and other financial institutions.[1] The proposal is largely consistent with existing guidance (e.g., under the NIST …
What Happens When Technology Is Faster Than the Law?
Designing a regulatory framework that ensures the safety of users and the public while facilitating the commercial use and consumer enjoyment of disruptive innovation is a challenging undertaking. This is particularly true in contemporary settings, where innovation is quicker and …
Cleary Gottlieb Discusses SEC’s Changes to Investment Adviser Filings
On August 25, 2016, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) adopted amendments to Form ADV to modernize and enhance information reported by investment advisers (the “Amendments” or the “Form ADV Amendments”).[1] Among …
Quantified Cost-Benefit Analysis at the SEC
In their recent article, Jeff Schwartz and Alexandra Nelson critique the Securities and Exchange Commission’s cost-benefit analysis accompanying the Conflict Minerals Rule.[1] This rule requires public companies using conflict minerals in their production to annually disclose whether the minerals …