White Collar Crime
Simpson Thacher Discusses Second Circuit Decision Curtailing Title 18 Insider Trading Liability
On December 29, 2022, the Second Circuit issued its highly anticipated opinion on remand in United States v. Blaszczak (“Blaszczak II”), reconsidering the case following the Supreme Court’s January 2021 vacatur of the Second Circuit’s original decision upholding …
A Beginner’s Guide to the SBF Prosecution: Where the Legal Issues Lie
The spectacle of a shambling billionaire with an adolescent personality, an inconsistent memory, a fondness for using his depositors’ funds for his own personal purposes, and an eagerness to talk in self-destructive ways to the press has fascinated everyone. This …
Insider Trading and Clinical Drug Trials
For at least a quarter century, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has pursued claims of unlawful insider trading where the information at issue was material to the stock price of the sponsor of a clinical trial. In recent years, …
Paul Weiss Discusses DOJ’s First Terrorism Material-Support Charge Against a Corporation
On October 18, 2022, Deputy Attorney General (“DAG”) Lisa O. Monaco announced that Lafarge SA (“Lafarge”), a multi-national building materials manufacturer headquartered in Paris, France, and its Syrian subsidiary Lafarge Cement Syria (“LCS”) had pleaded guilty in the Eastern District …
How Directors’ Oversight Duties and Liability under Caremark Are Evolving
Corporate law prohibits companies from pursuing profits through criminal misconduct. It uses the fiduciary duties imposed on boards under the Caremark doctrine,[1] and the threat of personal liability of directors for deliberate breach, to help motivate directors to make …
The Cutting Edge Podcast, Episode 2 – “Special Counsel: Whose Interests Do They Serve?”
Here’s the second episode of The Cutting Edge, a podcast series that examines white collar crime and corporate governance. This episode, “Special Counsel: Whose Interests Do They Serve?” looks at the history and unique status of the special counsel …
Arnold & Porter Discusses DOJ’s First False Claims Act Settlement With PPP Lender
On September 13, 2022, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) announced a settlement with Prosperity Bank, a regional bank with branches in Texas and Oklahoma, for processing a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan on behalf of an ineligible borrower.…
Deputy AG Lisa Monaco Speaks on DOJ’s New Approaches to Corporate Crime
Good afternoon. Thank you, Dean McKenzie, for the introduction and for hosting us today. I’m happy to be back at NYU, and to see so many friends and former colleagues in the room.
Let me start by acknowledging some of
A Marketing Pitch for Corporate Criminal Law
Can you name 10 corporate criminals? Bernie Madoff, Martha Stewart, and Jeff Skilling don’t count – they are individuals, not businesses. How about just five? Three? It’s surprising the task should be so difficult. Corporate crime inflicts upwards of 20 …
How Auditors Helped Spread Stock-Option Backdating
Stock-option backdating, the practice of changing the reported date of a stock-option grant to an earlier date, proliferated in the 1990s and early 2000s, with nearly one-third of public corporations engaging in it, according to some estimates (Heron and Lie, …
A New Podcast Debuts: The Cutting Edge
Today, the Blue Sky Blog launches its newest podcast series, The Cutting Edge: Current Issues in White Collar Crime and Corporate Governance. The series features top scholars, lawyers, and other esteemed figures in the legal world discussing breaking developments in …
Corporate Criminal Liability for ESG Initiatives Is on Its Way
The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) has signaled that it wants to increase enforcement against “greenwashing” – misrepresentation of a company’s environmental actions. It is not yet clear, though, whether these enforcement efforts will expand the risk of corporate criminal …
Davis Polk Discusses DOJ’s Focus on Corporate Crimes of Evading Sanctions, Export Controls
At a recent New York City Bar Association event, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco emphasized the Department of Justice’s focus on sanctions evasion and export control violations as key to its work to combat corporate crime.
The DAG’s discussion
At …
The Importance of Independent Internal Investigations
Internal investigations have become a necessity in today’s increasingly complex legal environment. They are now considered standard practice for businesses responding to serious allegations of financial misconduct and, when properly conducted, play a critical role in determining the credibility of …
Corporate Criminal Enforcement as a Defense to Companies’ Political Influence
Countries around the world are reforming their laws governing corporate criminal liability. Jurisdictions and scholars arguing against broad corporate liability, often rely on the claim that corporate civil liability should be as effective because it can impose equally large sanctions …
Skadden Discusses DOJ’s White Collar Crime Enforcement Priorities
Remarks made by U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) officials at the March 2022 American Bar Association’s (ABA’s) National Institute on White Collar Crime (the White Collar Conference) reflect the DOJ’s prioritizing white collar criminal enforcement under the Biden administration.1
On …
Are CEO Political Donations Linked to the Risk of SEC Enforcement Actions?
The potential for corporate campaign contributions to skew government policy has attracted considerable attention. Empirical studies generally support the notion that firms gain regulatory advantages through their involvement in the political process (e.g., Correia, 2014; Naughton, Rogo and Zheng, 2021). …
Wachtell Lipton Discusses the Growing Enforcement Focus on Cryptoassets
Underscoring that misconduct surrounding cryptoassets has become a top U.S. enforcement priority, the Department of Justice announced on February 17 the appointment of Eun Young Choi as head of a dedicated National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team. The NCET’s mandate is to …
Wachtell Lipton Discusses What Mattered and What to Expect in White-Collar and Regulatory Enforcement
The Biden administration has just completed its first full year in office, and the talk has been tough. New leadership at DOJ, the SEC, the FTC, the CFTC, and other regulatory and law enforcement agencies have issued statements and policy …