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Reuters reported today that the SEC is investigating last year’s hack of SolarWinds, focusing on whether SEC registrants failed to disclose that they had been impacted by the cyber breach.[1]   According to the article, the SEC sent voluntary requests for information to “a number of public issuers and investment firms…”  The SEC is reportedly investigating whether SolarWinds customers had been victims of the hack and failed to adequately disclose that fact.
Continue Reading SEC Conducts Sweep of Customers Impacted by SolarWinds Cyber Breach

Capital raising through Special-Purpose Acquisition Companies (“SPACs”) has gone through the roof in the last two years.  Last year was by far the single highest deal value for SPACs, and the first quarter of 2021 has already surpassed last year’s total deal value.[1]  Given the explosion of SPAC transactions, often backed by celebrities, it is a safe bet that the SEC will increase its scrutiny of SPACs.

In fact, on March 25, 2021, Reuters reported that the SEC has requested voluntary information from Wall Street banks on SPAC deals.[2]  Whether this inquiry broadens into a full-scale industry sweep remains to be seen, but it is clear that the hotbed of SPAC activity has captured regulatory attention.  Also notable is that the plaintiffs’ bar has been filing lots of cases arising from SPAC transactions, which can be a harbinger of SEC inquiries.  For these reasons, it is important to understand the regulatory risks of these deals.Continue Reading SPACs in the Spotlight: Skyrocketing Deal Volume Invites Regulatory Scrutiny

The Securities and Exchange Commission’s disgorgement powers have made legal headlines a couple of times over the last few years – most notably, with the U.S. Supreme Court’s decisions in Kokesh v. SEC, 137 S. Ct. 1635 (2017) and Liu v. SEC, 140 S. Ct. 1936 (2020).  Disgorgement surfaced again with the recent passage of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021, Section 6501 of which doubled the statute of limitations for some disgorgement actions from five years to 10. 
Continue Reading Four Things You Need to Know About the Extended Limitations Period for SEC Disgorgement

Ron Swanson once stated, “There’s only one thing I hate worse than lying—skim milk, which is water that’s lying about being skim milk.”

Today the SEC announced that it has charged Swanson with his second-least-favorite thing: lying in the form of securities fraud.   The SEC alleges that Ronald D. Swanson, the former chief executive officer and general counsel of a company purportedly developing a liquid purification technology, intentionally misled investors from whom he solicited over $2 million between October 2012 and August 2015.
Continue Reading Don’t Cry (or Lie) Over Skim Milk: SEC Charges Ron Swanson with Securities Fraud

Securities and Exchange Commission (the Commission) Chairman Jay Clayton today addressed the much anticipated delay to the compliance deadline for Regulation Best Interest (Reg BI), Form CRS and the related transparency obligations in the new regulation by stating there will be NO DELAY of the June 30, 2020 deadline because of the Covid-19 pandemic.¹
Continue Reading The SEC Opts Not to Extend Reg BI and Form CRS Compliance Deadline

The Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) on Friday, March 13, 2020, granted temporary relief under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 relative to certain filing and delivery deadlines and other requirements that the adviser cannot meet because of the current COVID-19 pandemic. See INVESTMENT ADVISERS ACT OF 1940 Release No. 5463 (March 13, 2020) (the “Order”).
Continue Reading The SEC Grants Temporary Relief Due to the Coronavirus COVID-19 Pandemic

On December 18, 2019, the SEC proposed to amend its definition of “Accredited Investor” with hopes to expand access to private capital markets to a wider range of investors.[1] The proposed changes create two new categories of natural persons who may be considered “accredited investors” and add to the categories of institutional investors who qualify. According to the SEC’s press release regarding the proposed changes, the purpose of the changes is to more effectively identify investors that have the “knowledge and expertise” to safely invest in private markets without the additional investor protections created by the filing requirements of the Securities Act of 1933 (the “Securities Act”).[2]
Continue Reading SEC Proposes to Update “Accredited Investor” Definition

As everyone in the securities industry appreciates, a registered representative’s departure from one broker-dealer firm to join another is a not uncommon event. Such departures, even when voluntary and made on good terms, can and often raise a host of issues. Just last year for instance, FINRA issued Regulatory Notice 19-10 (April 5, 2019), which can be found here.
Continue Reading Risky Business: How Departing Brokers Can Unintentionally Trip Reg. BI

KPMG must pay $50 million after the Securities and Exchange Commission charged the accounting giant with cheating on training exams and using purloined information concerning audit inspections to be conducted by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB).  KPMG agreed to the $50 million penalty and also accepted a public censure as part of the settlement.
Continue Reading Audit Firm to Pay $50 Million Penalty for Using Information Pilfered From PCAOB

Celadon Group Inc. announced a settlement with the SEC and the DOJ over allegations of accounting fraud.[1]  The company agreed to pay restitution of over $42 million in connection with a Deferred Prosecution Agreement with the DOJ, and to pay disgorgement of roughly $7.5 million in a parallel SEC settlement.  The disgorgement obligation is deemed satisfied by payment of the $42 million restitution amount.
Continue Reading Freight Company Charged with Truckload of Accounting Fraud