The US Securities and Exchange Commission does various things, but one thing that it does these days is charge financial services firms large fees for using mobile phones. I mean, it doesn’t provide the phones or anything. But the SEC has developed a theory that it is illegal for employees of securities brokerages and investment managers to use WhatsApp or…
Any day now, a US judge is expected to rule on whether the most important legal case in crypto history will go to trial or be dismissed. Coinbase, the top crypto exchange in the US, has asked Judge Katherine Polk Failla to jettison all or at least part of the lawsuit brought last year by US Securities and Exchange Commission.…
“People tend to put a lot of weight in it when the SEC brings a case, even when it’s a No-Admit, No-Deny settlement,” Peirce said. She added that she doesn’t believe that anything would have to change in the SEC’s enforcement program if the policy went away. But former Enforcement Director Bill McLucas argues that if defendants were able to…
What Are the Consequences of Auditors Subject to Regulatory Enforcement Actions? Apparently Not Much
Researchers at Temple University and the University of Michigan looked at what happened to the auditors one year after settled orders were issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) or the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), and they observed three intriguing consequences, or lack thereof. A significant number of those who were involved in professional misconduct remained gainfully…
The criminal sentencing of Binance founder Changpeng Zhao on a money laundering rule charge has been postponed until April 30, according to a notice Monday in Seattle federal court. That docket entry did not explain what would be a two-month delay in sentencing Zhao, a Canadian national widely known as “CZ” who is free on a $175 million release bond…
… At a high enough level of abstraction, everyone wants truly bad actors to face the music. As we say to our kids, “Your actions have consequences.” But how do we decide who deserves career-crippling public sanctions or even a one-way ticket to the clink? And how do we decide that, even though mistakes were made, no one person should…