SEC

SEC Data Analysis in Insider Trading Investigations

By Daniel M. Hawke August 21, 2019 by renholding

Recent SEC enforcement actions charging senior lawyers at Apple and SeaWorld with insider trading provide reason to dust off company insider trading policies and assess whether updates or additional training are needed.  As sanctuaries for corporate America’s most valuable confidential …

The Case for Mandatory Stakeholder Disclosure

By Ann M. Lipton August 20, 2019 by renholding

There are many sources of information about corporate operations, but one of the most critical is the disclosure required by the federal securities laws.  Whenever a company seeks to raise capital through the public sale of securities, the U.S. Securities …

SEC Commissioner Speaks Before Forum on Small Business Capital Formation

By Hester M. Peirce August 20, 2019 by renholding

Thank you, Martha [Miller]. It is wonderful to be here in Omaha. Thank you to all the participants in today’s [August 14] program. Dean [Anthony] Hendrickson, thank you for welcoming us to Creighton University’s Heider College of Business. It is

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Economic Consequences of Corporate Governance Disclosure

By Ole-Kristian Hope and Haihao Lu August 19, 2019 by renholding

Related party transactions (RPTs) refer to a transfer of resources, services, or obligations between a reporting entity and a related party and usually offer insiders a way to expropriate wealth from other investors via self-dealing. Both the Financial Accounting Standards …

The Readability of Company Responses to SEC Comment Letters

By Cory A. Cassell, Lauren M. Cunningham and Ling Lei Lisic August 12, 2019 by renholding

The Securities and Exchange Commission published its Plain English Handbook in 1998 with a goal of promoting “clearer and more informative disclosure documents” (SEC 1998).  Warren Buffet authored the preface, where he states, in part:

For more than forty years, …

SEC Commissioner Peirce Addresses the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan

By Hester M. Peirce August 12, 2019 by renholding

It is an honor to be with you today [August 7, 2019]. I have long wanted to visit Japan. Indeed, one of the options I explored following college was coming to Japan to teach English. Instead I ended up in

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Riding the Mania of Blockchain: Public Firms’ Speculative 8-K Disclosures

By Stephanie F. Cheng, Gus De Franco, Haibo Jiang and Pengkai Lin August 7, 2019 by renholding

The price of Bitcoin, a cryptocurrency based on blockchain technology, increased dramatically from less than a penny when it was launched in 2009 to $900 in January 2017 and peaked at over $19,500 in December 2017. This rise coincided with …

SEC Commissioner Discusses Cross-Border Cooperation in Digital-Asset Regulation

By Hester M. Peirce August 6, 2019 by renholding

Thank you, Robby [Greene], for that kind intro. I am delighted to see that Robby, once my research assistant, has clearly gone on to bigger and better things. I also am delighted to be here in Singapore, by some accounts

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The Potential Rewards for Blowing the Whistle on Wall Street Just Went Up

By Ezra Bronstein August 2, 2019 by renholding

As an incentive to blow the whistle, the Securities and Exchange Commission awards tipsters who supply credible information resulting in successful enforcement actions up to 30 percent of monetary penalties paid by securities violators. The unique features of the program …

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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The Costs of Complying with SOX’s Internal-Controls Audit Requirement

By Jenny McCallen, Roy Schmardebeck, Jonathan E. Shipman and Robert Lowell Whited July 29, 2019 by renholding

Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes Oxley Act (SOX) requires auditors to test and report on the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting (ICFR) for accelerated and large accelerated filers. Although Iliev (2010) documents substantial costs to initially comply with …

SEC Chairman Clayton Speaks to Investor Advisory Committee

By Jay Clayton July 29, 2019 by renholding

Thank you, Anne [Sheehan].  Good morning everyone, and I want to extend a special welcome to our new commissioner, Allison Lee.

I am interested in today’s discussion.  I understand the Committee first will be talking about the SEC approach to

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Gibson Dunn Offers 2019 Mid-Year Securities Enforcement Update

By Mark K. Schonfeld and Amy Mayer July 24, 2019 by renholding

The first half of 2019 has seen a continuation of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s emphasis on protecting the interests of Main Street investors. Chairman Clayton reiterated these themes in his testimony in May before the Financial Services and General …

SEC Chairman Clayton Kicks Off SEC Roundtable on Short-Termism

By Jay Clayton July 22, 2019 by renholding

Bill [Hinman] thanks a lot. I’m going to highlight three items to try and kick us off here. First, a thank you to Bill, Coy, Shelley and the other staff from the Division of Corporation Finance for the work you

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SEC Proposes to Exempt More Firms from Required Attestation of Internal Controls

By Colleen Honigsberg and Shivaram Rajgopal July 15, 2019 by renholding

The Securities and Exchange Commission has proposed changes to its rules requiring companies to obtain attestation on their internal controls from an independent public accountant. The proposal rests on the idea that attestation’s costs often exceed its benefits. The SEC’s …

Sullivan & Cromwell Discusses Amendments to Volcker Rule Regulations

By Sullivan & Cromwell LLP July 15, 2019 by renholding

On July 9, 2019, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (the “Federal Reserve”), the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (the “OCC”), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (the “FDIC”), the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) …

Political Connections and Insider Trading

By Thuong Harvison July 12, 2019 by renholding

The media, investors, and regulators often consider trading by corporate insiders to be a signal of firm value, given that insiders know their business better than do others. Although trading on material, non-public information can be illegal in the U.S., …

SEC Chair Clayton Discusses Regulation Best Interest and Investment Advisers

By Jay Clayton July 12, 2019 by renholding

As many of you know, in June, the Securities and Exchange Commission adopted a package of rules and interpretations that will enhance the quality and transparency of retail investors’ relationships with broker-dealers and investment advisers.[1] Importantly, they bring the

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SEC Statements on the Retirement of Delaware Chief Justice Leo Strine

By Jay Clayton and Robert J. Jackson, Jr. July 10, 2019 by renholding

Yesterday, Chief Justice Leo Strine announced his retirement after more than twenty years on the Delaware Court of Chancery and Supreme Court of Delaware, two of the most important courts for our markets and our investors.

Chief Justice Strine deserves

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SEC Chair Clayton Issues Statement on Offers of Settlement

By Jay Clayton July 8, 2019 by renholding

When the Securities and Exchange Commission is considering filing (or has filed) an action alleging violations of the federal securities laws, it often is in the public interest to pursue a timely, reasonable and consensual resolution of the matter. The

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