SEC

Video: The Biggest Issues Facing Securities Markets in the 21st Century

By Merritt B. Fox, Lawrence R. Glosten and Edward F. Greene April 16, 2018 by renholding

An esteemed panel of regulators, scholars, and lawyers gathered at Columbia Law School on March 29 to discuss Securities Market Issues for the 21st Century, a new e-book on the most important areas of inquiry for securities regulation and …

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 Discusses Online Trading Platforms — With a Word of Caution

By Stephen J. Crimmins March 29, 2018 by renholding

On March 7, 2018, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Enforcement Division and its Trading & Markets Division issued a joint “Statement on Potentially Unlawful Online Platforms for Trading Digital Assets.”[1]  The release appeared to be the strongest signal yet …

How Cross-Border Cooperation Improves Securities Enforcement and Financial Reporting

By Roger Silvers March 27, 2018 by renholding

In a recent study, I investigate cross-border coordination among national securities regulators and its impact on enforcement and financial reporting. The paper provides an in-depth look at the cross-border enforcement program at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), …

Debevoise Discusses the New SEC Cybersecurity Guidance

By Luke Dembosky, Jeremy Feigelson, Matthew E. Kaplan, Jim Pastore and Paul M. Rodel March 26, 2018 by renholding

On February 21, 2018, the SEC issued new Guidance regarding cybersecurity disclosure and governance requirements applicable to SEC reporting companies. In our earlier Client Update on this topic, we discussed the disclosure considerations addressed in the Guidance. In this Client …

Ropes & Gray Discusses the Regulatory Push to Rein in ICO Market

By Christopher Conniff, Michael McGovern, Helen Gugel and Jessica Soricelli March 21, 2018 by renholding

On March 1, 2018, Overstock.com disclosed that its ongoing $250 million initial coin offering has been under investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission since February.¹ The investigation appears to be part of a widespread probe pursuant to …

Securities Litigation in 2017: “It Was the Best of Times, It Was the Worst of Times”

By John C. Coffee, Jr. March 19, 2018 by renholding

Securities class actions soared in 2017, jumping from 271 filings in 2016 to a near record 412 filings in 2017 — well above the average of 193 per year for the years 1997 to 2016.[1] Only 2001 was comparable, …

Latham & Watkins Discusses SEC Charges Against BitFunder and the State of Digital Asset Trading

By Wenchi Hu, Vivian Maese and John Sikora March 19, 2018 by renholding

The SEC continues to send messages to the nascent cryptocurrency market. The agency has recently brought enforcement actions and issued a public statement that illustrate the agency’s views on how the federal securities laws apply to crypto or digital asset …

Fact and Fiction: The SEC’s Oversight of Administrative Law Judges

By Robert J. Jackson, Jr. March 9, 2018 by renholding

I’ve had the honor of serving as a commissioner of the SEC for just over a month now— and I’ve learned a lot in that time, mostly from the outstanding staff.  I’ve been schooled about cryptocurrency, spent hours wading through …

SEC Warns About Online Platforms for Trading Digital Assets

By Divisions of Enforcement and Trading and Markets March 8, 2018 by renholding

Online trading platforms have become a popular way investors can buy and sell digital assets, including coins and tokens offered and sold in so-called Initial Coin Offerings (“ICOs”).  The platforms often claim to give investors the ability to quickly buy

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SEC Allows Exclusion of Conflicting Proposals on Special Meeting Thresholds – With a Twist

By Keith F. Higgins March 7, 2018 by renholding

Late last year, the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance issued a no-action letter in which it agreed that a proposal seeking to lower the threshold for calling a special meeting from 25 percent to 10 percent of the outstanding shares …

Whistleblower Provisions of Dodd-Frank Deter Aggressive Financial Reporting

By Christine I. Wiedman and Chunmei Zhu March 5, 2018 by renholding

In 2011, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) introduced a Whistleblower (WB) program as part of the Dodd-Frank Act to protect investors through greater deterrence of securities law violations and more effective enforcement. The program offers financial incentives to provide …

Cleary Discusses Settlement Payments Under the New Tax Law

By Diane Wollman, Rebecca Reeb and Katie Sheridan March 5, 2018 by renholding

Investigations into potential violations of U.S. and non-U.S. securities laws are often resolved by a settlement requiring the business to make one or more large settlement payments.  We have seen settlements paid to the DOJ, the SEC, other U.S. and …

Blue Sky Banter Podcast: Donald Langevoort on Insider Trading, Disclosure, and Disasters

By Reynolds Holding March 2, 2018 by renholding

Professor Donald Langevoort of Georgetown Law speaks with Reynolds Holding about how two duties — the obligation to disclose or abstain from trading on material  information and the duty to reveal corporate secrets — evolved from the Second Circuit’s Texas …

SEC Commissioner Jackson Talks Mandatory Arbitration

By Robert J. Jackson, Jr. February 28, 2018 by renholding

I’m so glad to be back home here in New York. It’s an incredible honor to be speaking after Mayor Bloomberg today. And I’m sure the Mayor will be pleased to know that I plan to return and speak in

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Enhancing Governance in Dual-Class Share Firms

By Anita Anand February 27, 2018 by renholding

In a typical public company, shareholders can elect the board, appoint the auditors, and approve fundamental changes.  In other words, they can participate in the governance of the firm. Firms with dual class shares (DCS) alter this balance by inviting …

SEC Investor Advocate Discusses Mandatory Arbitration as Illusory Remedy for Shareholders

By Rick A. Fleming February 27, 2018 by renholding

Today [February 24, 2018] is a special day for the [Securities and Exchange Commission’s] Office of the Investor Advocate.[1] I started this job four years ago today, and because I am the first Investor Advocate that is also the …

SEC Releases Guidance on Disclosing Cybersecurity Risks and Incidents

By Jay Clayton February 22, 2018 by renholding

On February 20, the Securities and Exchange Commission approved the issuance of an interpretive release, available here, to provide guidance to public companies when preparing disclosures about cybersecurity risks and incidents.  The release also communicates the Commission’s views on the

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Changes in Corporate Governance: Externally Dictated vs. Organically Determined

By Onur K. Tosun February 20, 2018 by renholding

Several major corporate scandals in the United States during the early 2000s brought attention to corporate governance of large U.S. companies. As a result, Congress passed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX), and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced several regulations …

Perpetual Dual-Class Stock: The Case Against Corporate Royalty

By Robert J. Jackson, Jr. February 16, 2018 by renholding

My first few weeks at the Securities and Exchange Commission have been a whirlwind—and just to be clear, I am not talking about the markets.[1] In a few short weeks, I have gotten a crash course on SEC policymaking—and

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