Priorities Include Artificial Intelligence and Other Emerging Technologies, Complex Products, Reg BI, Cybersecurity, Outsourcing, Private Funds and Compliance with New and Amended SEC Rules
On October 21, 2024, the Division of Examinations (the “Division”) of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) released its examination priorities for fiscal year 2025 (which started October 1, 2024).
On September 17, 2024, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced cease-and-desist proceedings against eleven institutional investment managers for failure to file reports required by the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The SEC’s orders require all of the firms to file the reports that Section 13(f) requires from institutional investment managers holding investment discretionary authority over…
The Securities and Exchange Commission let pass the deadline to seek a review of the decision by the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (the “Fifth Circuit”) to vacate the SEC’s final rule relating to private fund advisers (the “Final Rule”). The SEC adopted the Final Rule on August 23, 2023. The Final…
Earlier this month, the Southern District of New York issued its final ruling and remedies order in Securities and Exchange Commission v. Ripple Labs, Inc. Judge Analisa Torres found that the SEC failed to show that any investor was harmed by Ripple’s sales of the crypto asset XRP, rejecting the SEC’s disgorgement theory.
The court…
On July 31, 2024, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced that it agreed to settle allegations that a California-based broker-dealer sold in excess of $13 million in “L bonds,” a speculative, unrated debt security, to retail customers with lower risk profiles. The settlement of this case is notable because it was the SEC’s first…
On June 25, 2024, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) charged an advanced materials company and its former executive officers with market manipulation, fraud and other securities law violations. The charges related to the alleged artificial inflation of the price of the company’s shares and the issuance and sale of shares through the company’s…
SEC v. Jarkesy, No. 22-859
Introduction: In a decision with significant, wide-ranging consequences for federal agency enforcement authority, the Supreme Court today held that the Seventh Amendment bars the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) from using in-house administrative adjudications to impose civil penalties for securities-fraud violations. Those actions must be brought in federal court…
On May 22, 2024, the US House of Representatives passed H.R. 4763 – the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act (FIT21) – the first time a chamber of Congress has passed major digital asset legislation. While the prospects of FIT21 becoming law remain very uncertain, FIT21 is an important milestone in the…
Answering a precise question increasingly raised by securities fraud plaintiffs, the United States Supreme Court held that a failure to disclose information cannot support a private action under Rule 10b–5(b) if the failure did not render any statements made misleading. Though the Court framed the case around the narrow issue of whether the failure to…
The SEC paused implementation of the climate-related disclosure rules in the face of significant legal challenges. The rules would impose substantial disclosure mandates on companies, including concerning the costs of extreme weather events, corporate strategies for addressing climate change, corporate governance procedures and, for certain companies, greenhouse gas emissions.
The SEC had proposed the rules…
