White Collar Crime

UK Founder of Swiss Asset Management Firm Pleads Guilty in $164 Million Global Securities Fraud Scheme

The U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari in Liu v. Securities and Exchange Commission to address a question that, until fairly recently, seemed clear: whether the SEC has authority to obtain disgorgement in civil actions to enforce the federal securities laws.

In recent years, practitioners have observed a tension between criminal enforcement of the broadly written terms of the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 and the modern Supreme Court's notions of statutory interpretation and due process in the criminal law context. A certiorari petition filed in late August in Sanchez et al. v. United States, asks the Supreme Court to address this tension, as embodied in the judge-made per se rule.

Over the past few years, defense attorneys have been turning to forensic accountants significantly more often in white-collar cases. An experienced and skilled forensic accountant is valuable to the defense team by casting reasonable doubt on the issue of intent and uncovering other evidence in support of innocence or a reduced sentence.

Maryland Jury Convicts Former Executive on FCPA Charges for Bribing Russian Official to Win Nuclear Fuel Transportation Contracts

In any investigation where a client is deposed or interviewed by a government agent, experienced lawyers should be wary of potential false statement liability and likely will have advised their clients of the paramount need to be truthful. Voluntary communications, initiated by a company or individual, with government officials are of a different ilk, however

Part Two of a Two-Part Article In Part One of this article last month, we discussed several of the key business crimes cases from the recently concluded October Term 2018. We resume this discussion in Part Two of our article and offer some concluding thoughts about where the Court may go next in the years to come.

Cybersecurity has been a high priority topic for the SEC the past few years. In September 2017, the SEC created a Cyber Unit within its Enforcement Division. This Cyber Unit had over 225 active investigations at the SEC's 2018 fiscal year end. The SEC has focused in particular on cybersecurity risks facing public companies.