Sky Blog
On July 29, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice announced the National Fraud Enforcement Division’s (“NFED”) first declination under Part I of the DOJ’s revised Corporate Enforcement and Voluntary Self-Disclosure Policy (“CEP”). The NFED declined to prosecute Campus Eye Management …
Much commentary has focused on the Trump Administration’s use of criminal prosecutions to gain political vengeance and enforce conformity with Trumpian policy preferences. The clearest examples of such political retaliation involve New York Attorney General Letitia James, and Federal Reserve …
On March 31, 2026, CFTC Director of Enforcement David I. Miller delivered remarks at NYU Law School addressing three significant developments in the CFTC’s Division of Enforcement. First, Miller announced five enforcement priority areas going forward: (i) insider trading (including …
In 2026, companies and individuals conduct many important transactions using images of objects or documents, rather than the original items themselves. For example, individuals authenticate themselves using photos of their passports; banks process and accept check deposits using images of …
Summary
In United States v. Chastain, No. 23-7038, 2025 WL 2165839 (2d Cir. July 31, 2025), the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit vacated wire fraud and money laundering convictions in what the government described as its …
Key Points
When a portion of the purchase price in an acquisition is contingent on the earnings or other performance metric(s) of the acquired business post-closing (i.e., an “earn-out” provision), buyers and sellers routinely discuss their aspirations and expectations regarding the go-forward …
The Department of Justice (“DOJ”) must make a decision on Boeing – and fast. It has only until July 7 to take action under the Deferred Prosecution Agreement (“DPA”) it signed with Boeing in 2021. Newspaper accounts disagree on what …
One of the hallmarks of PCCE is that it brings together academics, regulators, and industry professionals, and allows us to have candid conversations about corporate misconduct and the ways in which we can all work together to improve compliance.
And
In the world of financial markets, fraud poses a significant threat, undermining investor trust and leading to misallocation of resources. Cryptocurrency markets present heightened risks of fraud, which draws the attention of regulators, legal experts, and investors. The Securities and …
The common law of fraudulent misrepresentation, whether in tort or contract, balances the alleged fraudster’s intentional deception against the victim’s unjustified reliance. The law does not reward the victim who should have known better than to trust the fraudster’s representations. …
In a new essay, I examine public company wrongdoing by focusing on securities fraud.
In general, there are two main reasons why companies commit wrongful acts. The first is that managers have incentives to further their own interests. They may …
On June 1, the Ninth Circuit en banc in Lee v. Fisher issued a consequential decision calling into question the scope of the implied right of action recognized by J.I. Case Co. v. Borak and creating a stark split with …
Appellate courts rejected broad theories of white-collar fraud three times last week.
First, on May 10, 2023, in an opinion by Judge Lynch, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit vacated the mail and wire fraud convictions of …
This will be a cold-blooded, objective look at the Trump indictment by someone who can be fairly described as a “Trump-hater.” To date, in the outpouring of commentary on the Trump prosecution, efforts at moderation have been lacking. For example, …
I have
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 …
On November 10, 2022, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued a bulletin analyzing consumer complaints submitted to the CFPB over the past four years related to crypto-assets and platforms. According to the CFPB, fraud, scams and transaction issues accounted for …
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, …