When Coinbase sought FOIA records to shed light on the agency’s interpretation of securities laws with respect to digital assets, the SEC refused—so we took it to court, and a judge ordered the SEC to produce them. But there was a twist: The agency tasked with policing corporate record-keeping somehow lost reams of its own text messages between Mr. Gensler…
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission wants to tear up the remnants of an old dispute with crypto exchange Gemini, with the agency insisting that its own staff’s assertions about Gemini making misleading statements weren’t handled properly. The CFTC filed a request alongside Gemini in federal court to negate a settlement secured at the start of last year, with the…
The Musk-SEC settlement has everything: a politically motivated lawsuit, a shadow negotiation that bypassed the government’s own lawyers, a phantom trust as the sole defendant, a waived disgorgement demand of $150 million, and a federal judge who looked at all of it and said she will not be a rubber stamp. What it does not have — yet — is a judge’s signature.
I’ve analyzed the most recent hearing transcript and every relevant precedent going back to Judge Jed Rakoff’s tumultuous SEC/Bank of America battle in 2009. I’ve mapped every irregularity against thirty years of securities enforcement history. The short version: this case is far from over (and may have only just begun). The long version and the full hearing transcript are both linked below.
This article is required reading for white collar defense attorneys, securities enforcement practitioners, ethics lawyers and anyone who advises powerful clients navigating federal investigations. It is also required reading for anyone who assumed that what happened to the SEC’s enforcement program over the last six months was the end of the story. Judge Sparkle Sooknanan just made clear it was only the end of Act One.
Source: John Reed Stark on LinkedIn
A federal judge cited “red flags” about a proposed $1.5 million deal between Elon Musk and the Securities and Exchange Commission to end the agency’s lawsuit alleging the world’s richest person waited too long in 2022 to reveal his growing stake in Twitter Inc.
“I am not going to rubber stamp this settlement and I cannot rubber stamp this settlement,” US District Judge Sparkle Sooknanan said on Wednesday, adding that details in the proposed settlement “raise red flags for me.”
Sooknanan ordered attorneys for Musk and the SEC to answer questions by June 1 about how the parties reached the deal, including why the proposed settlement involves a trust tied to Musk instead of the billionaire himself.
“Is Mr. Musk getting some kind of special treatment in this case?” she asked.
Source: Judge Says Cannot ‘Rubber Stamp’ $1.5 Million Musk-SEC Deal
The Securities and Exchange Commission moved to transfer $24 million in funds it received as part of a 2023 settlement with defunct crypto exchange Bittrex Inc. to the US Treasury after failing to reliably identify harmed investors.
Efforts to determine Bittrex customers who were harmed by the company’s failure to register as a national securities exchange, broker, and clearing agency have come up short and likely won’t succeed, the SEC said Thursday in the US District Court for the Western District of Washington.
“SEC staff have no reasonable way of identifying harmed investors or establishing the amount of harm suffered …
Source: SEC Seeks to Transfer $24 Million Bittrex Settlement to Treasury
Pfizer agreed to accept $29 million to resolve a dispute with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission stemming from the regulator’s 2013 insider trading settlement with billionaire Steven A. Cohen’s former hedge fund SAC Capital Management. The proposed payment disclosed in a Tuesday court filing represents nearly two-fifths of the $75.2 million left over from SAC’s $601.8 million settlement over…
In consultation with the Divisions of Enforcement, Corporation Finance, and Investment Management, I believe that it is appropriate to restore the Commission’s prior practice of permitting a settling entity to request that the Commission simultaneously consider an offer of settlement that addresses both an underlying Commission enforcement action and any related waiver request. This salutary practice promotes fairness and economy…
Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Paul Atkins announced a return to a practice that never should have been abandoned: simultaneous consideration of enforcement settlement offers together with related waiver requests. “Statement on Simultaneous Commission Consideration of Settlement Offers and Related Waiver Requests” (Statement by SEC Chair Paul S. Atkins / September 26, 2025). In his Statement, Atkins announces that the…
A federal judge has rejected a joint request by Ripple Labs and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to approve a proposed $50 million settlement. In a ruling issued Thursday, U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres said the parties’ motion was not only outside her jurisdiction, as the case is currently on appeal, but also “procedurally improper.” Even if she…
Ripple Labs and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have officially reached a deal that, if approved by a judge, will bring their years-long legal battle to a close. According to a settlement agreement filed in New York on Thursday, both parties have agreed to a $50 million penalty — a portion of the $125 million fine initially imposed…