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Over the years, we have heard various formulations of inquiries that regulators might use when reviewing a compliance program. While not exactly a review of a compliance protocol, one of my favorites is what I call McNulty’s Maxims or the three questions that former United States Deputy Attorney General, and now former Baker & McKenzie […]
The intellectual jousting match between Grundfest and Pritchard is no longer just academic. Any day now, in the case Halliburton Co v. Erica P. John Fund, the Supreme Court will decide the future of securities fraud class actions, litigation that has generated more than $80 billion in settlements and untold billions more in legal fees. […]
… The story for today is that we are repeating the errors of Prohibition. We see federal prosecutors making names for themselves by convicting mostly low-level functionaries. We see the so-called corruption of otherwise good folks, including medical researchers and high-tech specialists, with valuable information. Yet with so much wealth at stake, this “corruption” surely […]
Todd Newman and Anthony Chiasson’s appeals of their insider trading convictions hinge on a fairly nit-picky legal point about jury instructions, although an important one that has an appeals court pretty riled up.1 But I don’t really think that the appeal has gotten so much attention, or gotten judges so riled up, or raised concerns […]
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit will hear arguments in a case that is being closely watched—and fretted over—by investigators involved in the government’s historic string of insider trading prosecutions. Two convicted hedge fund portfolio managers are arguing that what the government accused them of doing isn’t actually illegal, and the appeals […]
Back when I used to walk to Wall Street uphill both ways in the snow, there were certain tricks of the trade you were expected to abide by if you were going to operate in the gray area. via The truth about insider trading: former Galleon trader—CNBC
As reported by the Wall Street Journal, the SEC Enforcement Staff is one year into a wide-ranging review of disclosures made by financially stressed municipal bond issuers. This review has focused on whether municipalities made sufficient disclosures concerning the extent of their financial stress. The SEC announced that this review has already resulted in a number […]
Many investors and commentators think it’s about time the SEC got tougher on financial fraudsters and treated them more like common criminals. But policy makers and judges should think twice about whether this trend of quasi-criminal administrative prosecution is a good idea. It isn’t, for at least two reasons. via Russell G. Ryan: When Regulators […]
Martoma makes clear that if the USAO conducts a “joint investigation” with other state or federal agencies, the USAO must produce all Brady information in the possession of the “prosecution team,” including the SEC. Given how close and how often the SEC and the USAO conduct “parallel” investigations, it is likely that federal prosecutors will find themselves reviewing […]
An agency that has the ability to bring the full force of the federal government against a citizen in a fraud case should play by the same fair rules that have governed federal prosecutors for decades. It should be required to turn over, without awaiting a request, any evidence that could exculpate the defendant. It […]