Sky Blog
Since 2000, the financial world and global economy have been shaken by two catastrophic and entirely avoidable waves of financial scandals. At the turn of the millennium, accounting fraud at Enron, Worldcom, Tyco, and several other large enterprises rocked financial …
On November 3rd, high-frequency trader Michael Coscia was found guilty in Chicago in one of the most-watched financial trials in recent years.[1] His conviction under Dodd-Frank’s new anti-spoofing provision is important on a number of levels: what it means …
Section 4c(a)(5)(C) of the Commodities Exchange Act (CEA), 7 U.S.C. § 6c(a)(5)(C), newly added to the CEA by the Dodd-Frank reform legislation, prohibits spoofing as well as activity that is “of the character” of spoofing. The statute defines “spoofing” but …
Is a CEO’s statement that “I believe the TVs we manufacture have the highest resolution on the market” potentially actionable as an “untrue statement of material fact” under § 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder? …
Any successful fraudster can tell you the golden rule of his trade: if no one notices your fraud, keep doing it. The possibility to repeat past success makes fraud very costly: for example, health care fraud accounts for one to …
On September 9, 2015, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) issued a new policy memorandum, signed by Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates, regarding the prosecution of individuals in corporate fraud cases—“Individual Accountability for Corporate Wrongdoing” (“the Yates Memorandum”).
The Yates Memorandum …
What role does public disclosure by a defendant firm play in the outcome of securities fraud class actions? In a recent article we study this question and find when a defendant firm discloses more via press releases and conference calls, …
Under the long-awaited proposed rules adopted by the Securities and Exchange Commission on July 1, 2015, generally, all US publicly listed companies would be required to adopt broad clawback policies and make new clawback-related disclosures. Although these requirements likely will …
On July 25, 2015, Judge Barbara Lynn of the Northern District of Texas issued a formative opinion in the class actions securities arena. The case, The Erica P. John Fund, Inc., et al. v. Halliburton Co., et al., No. …
On June 5, 2015, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) entered into settled administrative cease-and-desist proceedings with Computer Sciences Corporation (“CSC”) and some of its former executives due to the company’s alleged manipulation of financial results and concealment of problems …
During an FCPA panel event, the Chief of the US Department of Justice’s Fraud Section advised companies to conduct “targeted” FCPA investigations, dismissing the suggestion that companies must spend hundreds of millions of dollars to receive full cooperation credit, and …
FINRA’s newly revised Sanction Guidelines, effective immediately, signal that the upward trend in sanctions against broker-dealers is likely to continue.
The Sanction Guidelines, which establish the range of sanctions that FINRA may impose in formal disciplinary proceedings, affect several …
By motivating lawyers to handle class actions, fee awards enable millions of people to obtain access to justice every year and strengthen the effect of regulatory laws. But the process by which judges decide how much to pay lawyers has …
In 2010, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued guidance that requires companies to tell shareholders how they may be harmed by proposed energy regulations, unless the company determines that the regulation will be unlikely to affect the company.[1]…
Earlier this week, the SEC filed an administrative action against Lynn Tilton and her Patriarch Partners funds. See In re Lynn Tilton et al. CNBC has reported that the SEC is “accusing Patriarch of hiding the poor performance of …
With Chair Mary Jo White in her second year at the helm, the Securities and Exchange Commission showcased its efforts, improvements, and enforcement successes at this year’s SEC Speaks Conference. The Commission highlighted that it brought a record number of …
On February 10, 2015, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) filed settled administrative cease-and-desist proceedings against two former chief financial officers (“CFOs”) of Saba Software, Inc. for their failure to reimburse the company for the stock-sale profits and bonuses they …