About Face: How Much of Current SEC Policy Will the Trump Administration Reverse?

By John C. Coffee, Jr. and Joel Seligman December 3, 2024 by renholding

The future of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) is currently uncertain. Given the Trump election, Republican majorities in both the House and Senate and soon at the SEC, we focus on what may happen next and, even more importantly, …

Morrison & Foerster Discusses Top Five SEC Enforcement Developments for July 2024

By Nicole K. Serfoss, Michael D. Birnbaum, Haimavathi V. Marlier, Craig D. Martin and Mamie Tabet August 28, 2024 by renholding

1. SDNY Judge Holds SEC Failed to Adequately Plead Risk Disclosure and Controls Claims in SolarWinds

On July 18, 2024, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York issued an opinion in Securities and Exchange Commission …

How Do Multiple Regulators Regulate?

By Phil Berger, Rachel Geoffroy, Claudia Imperatore and Lisa Yao Liu August 15, 2024 by renholding

The process of producing and disseminating financial reporting disclosures often involves multiple parties, each of whom is under the authority of a specialized regulator. For example, certain information in 10-K filings is provided by third parties who operate under a …

John C. Coffee, Jr. and Joshua Mitts – Can Section 11 Be Saved?: Tracing a Path to Its Survival

By John C. Coffee, Jr. and Joshua Mitts December 6, 2023 by renholding

In the wake of Slack Techs., LLC v. Pirani,[1] many have predicted that Section 11 of the Securities Act of 1933 will decline into a state of near irrelevance. Some have mourned this prospect in the belief that …

Davis Polk Discusses Recent SEC and CFTC Enforcement Actions

By Greg D. Andres, Robert A. Cohen, Martine M. Beamon, Stefani Johnson Myrick and Fuad Rana October 4, 2023 by renholding

In July and August 2023, the SEC filed 84 actions and the CFTC filed 16, against a combined total of 176 defendants and respondents. (These figures exclude follow-on actions, bars and suspensions.) The actions include public company disclosure and crypto …

SEC Commissioner Criticizes Funding for Consolidated Audit Trail

By Hester M. Peirce September 7, 2023 by renholding

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The CAT has been expensive, far more costly than anyone imagined it would be. CAT’s considerable costs need to be allocated and no allocation method is ideal. And regardless of which approach we choose, most costs …

FINRA Faces Uphill Battle in Case Challenging Its Enforcement Authority

By James Fallows Tierney and Benjamin P. Edwards August 1, 2023 by renholding

FINRA, the self-regulatory organization (SRO) responsible for overseeing broker-dealers in securities markets, now faces constitutional scrutiny about its structure, enforcement proceedings, and sanctions. In July, Judge Justin R. Walker of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued …

Davis Polk Discusses New SEC Cybersecurity Requirements for Regulated Market Participants

By Robert A. Cohen, Greg D. Andres, James W. Haldin, Gabriel D. Rosenberg and Zachary J. Zweihorn March 29, 2023 by renholding

The SEC proposed an array of new cybersecurity-related requirements in the form of: (1) an expansive new Rule 10, (2) extending the reach of Regulation SCI, and (3) expanding Regulation S-P, including to require incident response programs. The SEC also …

Olshan Discusses FINRA, Stock Exchange Crack Down on Small-Cap IPO “Ramp and Dump” Schemes

By Spencer G. Feldman November 29, 2022 by renholding

On November 17, 2022, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) issued a special alert to FINRA members concerning the heightened threat of fraud in small capitalization initial public offerings (“IPOs”). At the same time, both the New York Stock Exchange …

SEC Chair Gensler Speaks on Re-Proposed Amendments to FINRA Membership Exemption

By Gary Gensler August 1, 2022 by renholding

Today [July 29], the Commission unanimously voted to re-propose amendments to Rule 15b9-1 regarding when broker-dealers are required to register with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). These amendments would cause some of the most active participants in our equity …

Supreme Risk for FINRA and Other SROs

By Benjamin P. Edwards August 30, 2021 by renholding

Most efforts to manage systemic risk tend to focus on risks arising from within financial markets, from existing regulators, or from legislative misadventures. Yet self-regulatory organizations (SROs) and the markets that depend on their steady functioning now face an underappreciated …

SEC Chair Gensler Speaks at FINRA Annual Conference

By Gary Gensler May 21, 2021 by renholding

Good afternoon. I want to thank the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and Robert [Cook] for hosting me as part of this week’s conference.[1] I’ve known Robert since he joined the SEC to lead the Trading and Markets Division and

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How Financial Misconduct by Institutional Investors Affects Corporate Social Responsibility

By Samuel B. Bonsall, Babak Mammadov and Blerina Bela Zykaj May 6, 2021 by renholding

In recent years, institutional investors have publicly voiced their support for firms’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities. Most notably, Larry Fink, the CEO of BlackRock— the largest institutional investor in the world, with over $7 trillion in assets under management—sent …

Game Over: How Best to Regulate Betting on Wall Street

By John C. Coffee, Jr. February 8, 2021 by renholding

What a difference a week makes! Almost two weeks ago, the frenzied discussion of GameStop assumed that a proletarian revolution was in progress, that the masses had organized themselves through Reddit and Robinhood, and that they were marching on the …

Goodwin Procter Discusses SEC Statement on Custody of Digital Asset Securities

By Nicholas J. Losurdo, Peter W. LaVigne and Jana Steenholdt January 13, 2021 by Nisha Chandra

Christmas came early for many in the digital asset community by way of a statement from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC” or “Commission”) on December 23, 2020 that grants relief in the area of broker “custody” of digital …

SEC Chair Addresses Proposed Equity Market Data-Governance Reforms

By Jay Clayton May 7, 2020 by renholding

Good afternoon. This is an open meeting of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on May 6, 2020, under the Government in the Sunshine Act. The Commission today will consider a staff recommendation to issue an Order that would direct …

SEC Chairman Clayton Speaks to Fixed-Income Committee

By Jay Clayton August 2, 2019 by renholding

Thank you, Michael [Heaney]. Good morning everyone. Thank you all for being here. I want to extend a warm welcome to our newest Commissioner, Allison Lee — Welcome back to the Commission and to your first FIMSAC meeting. We have

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Latham & Watkins Discusses Principles Guiding FINRA Enforcement Action

By John J. Sikora, Jr., Stephen P. Wink and Gregory Mortenson September 27, 2018 by renholding

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) relies on a framework of core principles in deciding whether to bring an Enforcement action in response to a given set of facts, and the key consideration is an assessment of “risk.” These core …

Cleary Gottlieb Discusses the SEC’s New Cyber Unit, Six Months On

By Jonathan S. Kolodner, Rahul Mukhi, Matthew C. Solomon and Anne Titus Hilby April 3, 2018 by renholding

On September 25, 2017, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC” or the “Commission”) announced the creation of a Cyber Unit within the Enforcement Division in order to further the Division’s “substantial expertise in the detection and pursuit of fraudulent …

SEC Commissioner Piwowar Speaks on Market Structure

By Michael S. Piwowar October 30, 2017 by renholding

These days you rarely hear the name Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) in this town [Washington, D.C.] [1] without some mention of “FINRA 360,” the comprehensive self-evaluation initiated by FINRA President and CEO Robert Cook. From what I have seen …

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