We previously wrote about the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) May 2026 withdrawal of its longstanding no-deny policy, under which a settling party generally could not deny the SEC’s allegations. At that time, we noted that a company settling with the SEC could now issue a statement disagreeing with the agency’s allegations, asserting it
In a unanimous decision issued on June 4, 2026, the Supreme Court handed the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) an enforcement victory. That case — Sripetch v. SEC — concluded that the SEC is not required to show a pecuniary loss to investors before the SEC may obtain disgorgement. At the same time, the Court
For decades, settling with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) came with an unusual requirement: silence. Under Rule 202.5(e) of the SEC’s informal procedures, defendants who settled SEC enforcement actions were prohibited from publicly denying the agency’s allegations. On May 18, 2026, the SEC rescinded that policy, closing a chapter that had drawn criticism
On May 4, 2026, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced three settlements involving alleged violations of the beneficial ownership reporting requirements under the federal securities laws. These cases are notable in the current SEC enforcement environment because they involve non-fraud violations – what some might call “technical violations” – yet the SEC saw
Former judge Margaret Ryan became the Director of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Enforcement in September 2025. But it was not until last week, in February 2026, that she made her first public speech as Director. Judge Ryan’s remarks are notable because they rejected the idea that SEC enforcement is not a priority
On December 2, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York approved a settlement between the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and a broker-dealer for policy and procedure violations and a $2.5 million penalty. As part of the settlement, the SEC also abandoned negligence-based fraud claims against the broker-dealer and
On August 27, 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued an opinion highlighting that, when public companies disclose risks using hypothetical language, those disclosures may be deemed misleading if the risks have already materialized. See City of Hialeah Employees’ Ret. Sys. v. Peloton Interactive, Inc., — F.4th —, 2025 WL
On September 5, 2025, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) brought enforcement actions against a public company and one of its executives for materially misleading statements. Although disclosure fraud cases are nothing new for the SEC, they have been a rarity thus far during the tenure of Chairman Paul S. Atkins. So, these cases
On August 11, 2025, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) brought two settled administrative proceedings against a broker-dealer and one of its registered representatives for violations of Regulation Best Interest (Reg BI). Reg BI generally requires a broker-dealer, when making a recommendation of a securities transaction to a retail customer, to act in the
In May 2025, we summarized the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Division of Enforcement activity during the first quarter of the new presidential administration. With the second quarter now concluded, and Paul S. Atkins hitting his stride as the new Chairman of the SEC, we summarize below the types of SEC enforcement