Features
Securities Litigation In 2023 Showing Continued Muscle Flexing from the SEC
Newer trends — such as environmental, social, and governance (ESG), cybersecurity-related disclosure violations, and cryptocurrency regulation — are likely to provide further fuel for securities litigation and enforcement.
Features
The Criminal Division's Enforcement Policy: What's New for Companies Deciding Whether to Voluntarily Disclose?
Since the DOJ announced a new policy under which companies that voluntarily disclosed violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act has attempted to encourage companies to voluntarily disclose all manner of criminal misconduct beyond violations of just the FCPA, while general counsels worldwide have been wrestling with the question of whether and when it is in the company's best interest to so disclose.
Features
SEC to Continue to Punish Wrongdoers and Deter Misconduct
The Division of Enforcement will likely continue to use "every tool in its toolkit" and expect that public companies and other market participants will think rigorously about their business and appropriately tailor compliance practices and internal controls and policies to match.
Features
Circuit Split Reflects Disagreement About the Relationship Between Scheme Liability and SEC Rule 10b-5(b)
Historically, federal courts generally agreed that scheme liability under SEC Rule 10b-5(a) and (c) requires something more than a misstatement or omission — with misstatements and omissions typically being litigated under Rule 10b-5(b) instead. However, the SCOTUS in Lorenzo v. SEC held that an individual who disseminates a misstatement, without other fraudulent conduct, is potentially liable under the scheme liability provisions of Rule 10b-5. Subsequently, a circuit split has emerged over the scope of Lorenzo's holding.
Features
ESG 'Greenwashing' Litigation On the Rise
Increased attention paid to companies' public promotion of their environmental and sustainability programs is likely to continue in 2023, with further developments in regulation and litigation pertaining to "greenwashing" — a marketing practice which involves unsubstantiated or exaggerated claims about the environmentally friendly or socially-responsible attributes of an organization's products or services.
Features
Second Circuit Narrows Reach of Wire Fraud and Insider Trading Prohibitions
The Second Circuit's long-anticipated decision in United States v. Blaszczak limits the government's ability to bring fraud or insider trading prosecutions where the information used to achieve an advantage is regulatory information held by the government. It also brings the Second Circuit in greater alignment with the Supreme Court's wire fraud jurisprudence.
Features
Regulators Reaching Deep In Their Toolbox to Prosecute Users of Encrypted Messages
If you use Whatsapp or similar platforms for work-related communications, then you've probably heard that regulators are putting an end to that practice. Ephemeral and encrypted messaging, they have noted, evades monitoring and prevents retention. A seldom used doctrine allows prosecutors to charge executives with misdemeanor offenses just for being in the position of power when others commit the misconduct. Rather than take a wait-and-see approach, companies and their leaders would do well to prepare for prosecutors to reach deep into their toolbox.
Features
Circuit Split Over Joint and Several Liability for Forfeiture In White-Collar Crimes
Ever since the Honeycutt ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2017 that co-conspirators convicted of federal narcotics violations could not be held jointly and severally liable, courts have grappled with whether it also applied outside the narcotics context, to forfeiture judgments imposed in white-collar cases.
Features
SEC Tightens Rules on Scheduling Trades In Advance
General counsel may find themselves pulled into difficult conversations with top executives as the Securities and Exchange Commission tightens its rules on company insiders looking to dump their stock.
Features
Trouble Prosecuting Trump Allies Signifies DOJ's Difficulties In Prosecuting Non-Traditional Foreign Influence Cases
Despite the broad language of the Espionage Act, the DOJ has faced significant hurdles in pursuing prosecutions outside the traditional espionage context, and particularly where the alleged foreign agent's activity involves ostensibly legitimate international business dealings.
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