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

By Haimavathi V. Marlier, Craig D. Martin, Nicole K. Serfoss, Michael D. Birnbaum and Mitchell E. Feldman October 25, 2024 by renholding

Each month, we publish a roundup of the most important SEC enforcement developments. This month included the SEC’s fiscal year end and a large number of enforcement actions of note, and we examine:

An ESG disclosure settlement relating to the

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Watching the Watchdogs: Tracking SEC Inquiries Using Geolocation Data

By William Christopher Gerken, Steven Irlbeck, Marcus Painter and Guangli Zhang September 26, 2024 by renholding

The Securities and Exchange Commission plays a crucial role as the watchdog of Wall Street by detecting financial misconduct and enforcing securities laws, but much of its investigative process has remained opaque to researchers and the public. In a new …

Wachtell Lipton Discusses the SEC’s Disbanding of Its ESG Enforcement Task Force

By John F. Savarese, Wayne M. Carlin, David B. Anders and Carmen X.W. Lu September 20, 2024 by renholding

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) has disbanded its Climate and ESG Task Force in the Division of Enforcement. The Task Force was established in March 2021 with the purpose of identifying ESG-related misconduct, including material gaps or misstatements …

Wachtell Lipton Offers Summer Takeaways in SEC Enforcement

By John F. Savarese, Wayne M. Carlin and David B. Anders September 5, 2024 by renholding

With the Labor Day holiday now behind us, it is a good time to review the SEC’s active enforcement docket and to look ahead to likely areas of continuing enforcement attention as we head into the fall. The record over …

SEC Enforcement Chief Speaks on Enforcing the Federal Securities Laws in the Age of Crypto

By Gurbir Grewal July 11, 2024 by renholding

I’m thrilled to be back at my law school alma mater. This is a special place – one that not only helped me hone my legal skills, but also one that helped mold me into a “citizen lawyer.”

For me,

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SEC Enforcement Chief Discusses Five Principles of Effective Cooperation in Investigations

By Gurbir Grewal June 3, 2024 by renholding

This event, together with its East Coast and now Midwest counterparts, offers regulators like me a unique opportunity to speak directly to leaders of the securities bar about issues of mutual concern. That’s what I’d like to do this afternoon

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The Big Lessons from the SEC Speaks Conference 2024

By Jonathan H. Hecht, Anne E. Railton and Anna Wittman April 26, 2024 by renholding

The SEC (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission) recently hosted the 2024 SEC Speaks conference in Washington, DC. During the event, SEC leaders, including the Chair, commissioners, and senior staffers, shared their views about key priorities and trends in the enforcement …

Enforcement Chief Speaks on the “Why” of SEC’s Work

By Gurbir Grewal April 4, 2024 by renholding

Whether you’re here in person or participating virtually from around the country, or even overseas, I thank you for joining us.

As is customary, my remarks this morning are in my official capacity as Director of the Securities and Exchange …

Debevoise Discusses SEC’s Division of Enforcement Year-End Results

By Kara Brockmeyer, Andrew Ceresney, Robert Kaplan, Julie Riewe and Mary Jo White November 30, 2023 by renholding

On November 14, 2023, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (“SEC” or “Commission”) Division of Enforcement (“Division”) announced its enforcement results for fiscal year (“FY”) 2023.[1] Disgorgement and penalties were the second highest in the SEC’s history at just …

Columbia Law School to Hold 2023 Conference on M&A and Corporate Governance

By Reynolds Holding November 27, 2023 by renholding

On December 8, 2023, Columbia Law School will hold its 2023 Conference on Mergers & Acquisitions and Corporate Governance. The event is co-sponsored by the school’s Ira M. Millstein Center for Global Markets and Corporate Ownership, the Columbia Law School …

SEC Announces Enforcement Results for Fiscal Year 2023

By Securities and Exchange Commission November 15, 2023 by renholding

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced that it filed 784 total enforcement actions in fiscal year 2023, a 3 percent increase over fiscal year 2022, including 501 original, or “stand-alone,” enforcement actions, an 8 percent increase over the prior fiscal …

SEC Enforcement Chief Speaks on Corporate Compliance

By Gurbir Grewal October 25, 2023 by renholding

I’d like to start by returning to a theme that I’ve touched on before, and that is how public trust in our institutions is faltering.[1] No sector is immune from this trend. From Congress to law enforcement to the

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Why Prosecuting Executives for Securities Fraud Is So Difficult

By James J. Park October 12, 2023 by renholding

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 …

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 …

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 …

Covington Discusses SEC’s Focus on Cybersecurity Incident Disclosure

By David Engvall, Ashden Fein, Gerald Hodgkins, Ian Macdonald and Micaela McMurrough March 27, 2023 by renholding

On March 9, 2023, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) Enforcement Division’s Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit announced a settlement with Blackbaud, Inc. involving allegations of inadequate disclosure controls and procedures and material misstatements and omissions concerning a 2020 …

Assessing the SEC’s Role As Enforcer Against Financial Misconduct

By Chuan Chen, Yanrong Jia, Xiumin Martin and Bernardo Silveira January 10, 2023 by renholding

The Securities Exchange Act grants the SEC ample authority and discretion to investigate and seek sanctions related to violations of the securities laws, with the goal of protecting investors; maintaining fair, orderly, and efficient markets; and facilitating capital formation (SEC, …

SEC Enforcement Chief Speaks on Penalties, Investigations, and Compliance

By Gurbir Grewal November 22, 2022 by renholding

Throughout my first year as Director, I have spoken[1] often about the public’s declining trust in our institutions and financial markets.[2] I have observed that, while there is no single cause for this decline of trust, it is

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SEC Announces Enforcement Results for FY 2022

By Securities and Exchange Commission November 16, 2022 by renholding

The Securities and Exchange Commission today [November 15] announced that it filed 760 total enforcement actions in fiscal year 2022, a 9 percent increase over the prior year. These included 462 new, or “stand alone,” enforcement actions, a 6.5 percent …

SEC Chair Gensler Speaks on Enforcement

By Gary Gensler November 4, 2022 by renholding

My thanks to the Practising Law Institute and the 54^th Annual Institute on Securities Regulation. As is customary, I’d like to note that my views are my own, and I am not speaking on behalf of my fellow Commissioners

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