The SEC Departs from an Important Safeguard
Harvard Law School Forum on Corp. Gov.
Recently, the SEC made permanent the delegation of its statutory formal order investigation authority to the Director of the Division of Enforcement. The formal order delegation is a serious departure from one of the Commission’s important traditional safeguards – the Commission’s oversight of the investigative process. The Commission must provide transparency in how it is carrying out this oversight function in order to ensure there is fairness in the conduct of its enforcement program.
Australia: Nufarm to be sued for 'misleading the market'
Sydney Morning Herald
Two years of profit downgrades and poor continuous disclosure have left Nufarm facing an imminent shareholder class action over what lawyers have described as ''blatant'' misleading and deceptive conduct.
PCAOB Seeks Public Enforcement
WSJ
The PCAOB's proposal would repeal a requirement that its disciplinary actions remain secret, according to a copy of the document reviewed by Dow Jones.
KB Home Announces Conclusion of SEC Investigation
Business Wire
KB Home today announced that it received a letter from the staff of the SEC advising the Company that the SEC's investigation relating to the Company's accounting and disclosures has been completed and that the staff does not intend to recommend any enforcement action by the SEC.
Stephen Goldfield, Ex-Fund Manager, Settles U.S. Charges Insider Trading Claims
Reuters
A former hedge fund manager and a pharmaceutical executive have agreed to settle federal insider trading charges related to the 2007 takeover of the biotechnology company MedImmune, the SEC said Wednesday.
SEC investigation into Victorville bond offerings heats up
Daily Press
The SEC has ordered the city not to destroy or alter any records, as the federal agency’s investigation into Victorville’s bond offerings moves forward.
SEC employees win battle to dress casual
Market Cop Blog
After months of negotiations, the arrival of SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro and the arrival of a new OCIE director, the SEC has agreed to relax the requirement and permit examiners to wear attire matching that of people working for the firm under review.
When Money Talks, Do Individuals Walk?
The FCPA Blog
With so much money at stake, you'd expect FCPA units at the DOJ and SEC to be growing, and they are. Our question, though, is whether those agencies still want to prosecute individuals who violate the FCPA when they can instead deal with cooperating companies?.... But no one from Siemens, which Mr. Breuer himself called "arguably the most egregious example of systemic foreign corruption ever prosecuted" by the DOJ, has been indicted in the U.S. Even if that's because of jurisdictional problems, the Siemens executives walked on the FCPA violations. It's the same with the brass from U.K.-based BAE. The company paid $400 million to settle an FCPA case last year. But no one from BAE has faced U.S. charges. Again, Daimler AG paid $185 million in penalties this year, and so far no one from that company has been charged here
Inside A Merger: Impact of the FCPA
FCPA Professor
A recent proxy statement provides an informative glimpse into how FCPA issues affect real business decisions. Among other things, interested purchasers of PBSJ: held meetings with PBSJ's outside counsel (Greenberg Traurig) and its in-house counsel to discuss the FCPA investigation; requested the opportunity to meet with DOJ representatives regarding the FCPA investigation; and requested access to attorney-client privileged documents regarding the FCPA investigation.
Whistleblower claims begin
Dodd-Frank.com
In a comment letter recently sent to the SEC, one law firm describes how in a span of just 10 days it had already “filed several whistle-blower complaints with the SEC, pursuant to the new statute, involving major Wall Street firms, which filings appear to implicate hundreds of millions of dollars, if not more, of investor related fraud issues, including on behalf of former senior employee(s) of entities.”
Croatian seamstress in $2.83 mln accord with SEC
Reuters
A retired Croatian seamstress implicated in a U.S. insider-trading ring has agreed to give up her rights to $2.83 million held in a court-controlled account, as part of a final judgment with the SEC.
Former Securities Class Action Lawyer Promises to Be an 'Agent of Change'
NY Law Journal
Last fall, Sean Coffey told his partners at Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann he would quit the firm and try something different—a run as New York's next attorney general. "When he came to tell me, I said, 'Sean, maybe you should go on vacation,'" said Max Berger, who co-managed the firm with Mr. Coffey. "'You can't possibly be serious about this, look what you'd be giving up.' And he said, 'No, no, this is what I want to do.'"
SEC Charges Two Accounting Professionals at Milwaukee-Based Company with Fraud
SEC Press Release
The SEC today charged two former senior accounting professionals at a Milwaukee-based headphone manufacturer with accounting fraud, books-and-records violations, and related misconduct arising from the embezzlement of more than $30 million from the company.
AUSA Carolyn McNiven Joins DLA Piper in San Francisco
Securities Docket
Previously, McNiven served as Deputy Chief in the Financial Fraud and Special Prosecutions Section for the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois.
SEC Cautions Credit Agencies on Deceptive Conduct
Enforcement Action
The SEC issued a report today under Section 21(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 “cautioning credit rating agencies about deceptive ratings conduct and the importance of sufficient internal controls over the policies, procedures, and methodologies the firms use to determine credit ratings.”
Starving the SEC Won’t Fix Wall Street
AlterNet
Complaining that the SEC is getting some bloated new budget is still totally wrong-headed. The SEC’s job is to police all of corporate America for financial fraud. The supposedly outrageous new budget that the agency will receive next year is . . . wait for it . . . $1.2 billion. That’s roughly 6 percent of the 2009 bonus pool for financiers who work in New York City alone.
Cloudy Future for GAAP
CFO.com
Robert Herz's retirement and the need for FASB to replace him as well as add two new members will likely delay significant changes to U.S. accounting rules.
Guest Post: Bill Lerach on Whether Companies Underperform After Settling Securities Suits
The D&O Diary
After reading Kevin's description of this study concerning the post settlement performance of companies sued for securities fraud and his own evaluation of the paper I don't know whether to characterize them both as silly or stupid. They're probably a combination of both. Almost everything about the study and the associated commentary ignores the basic realities of the circumstances that surround the vast majority of securities fraud litigations.
Disqualifying Counsel: A New SEC Enforcement Tactic?
Akin Gump
Amid the rebuilding of the SEC's enforcement program, a new trend may be emerging — interference by the enforcement staff with the relationship between witnesses and their counsel. In a number of public speeches, senior division leadership has suggested that the SEC’s new cooperation tools and the rewards that they provide to early cooperators will create conflicts for counsel representing multiple witnesses in the same investigation.
Grassley calls SEC response on alleged retaliation 'extremely disturbing'
Market Cop Blog
A senior Senate Republican is calling into question the SEC's response to allegations that top officials in the Fort Worth office retaliated against employees who raised concerns about an agency examination program.
