Following the D.C. Circuit’s July 14, 2015 decision in Koch et al. v. Securities and Exchange Commission, No. 14-1134 (D.C. Cir. July 14, 2015), which held that the SEC could not retroactively punish an investment advisor for conduct that occurred prior to the enactment of the statute authorizing the punishment, the SEC announced last week that it would not seek further review of that decision.…

Returning to an enforcement priority repeatedly articulated over the years (for example, here,  here and here), the SEC recently imposed sanctions on a registered investment advisory firm and two principals arising out of an alleged scheme to inflate the valuations of illiquid mortgage-backed securities held by private investment funds managed by the adviser. The SEC charged that the overvaluations improperly increased the management and performance fees collected by the adviser. In AlphaBridge Capital…

Last week, Delaware Governor Jack Markell signed Senate Bill 75, which amends the Delaware General Corporation Law to prohibit Delaware stock corporations from adopting bylaws that force shareholders to pay legal fees if they do not prevail in lawsuits asserting internal corporate claims against Delaware corporations.  The legislation also allows Delaware corporations to designate Delaware – but not any other state – as the exclusive forum for internal corporate claims. Section 115 defines “internal corporate…

Relying on a data-driven statistical analysis conducted by the Division of Economic and Risk Analysis (DERA), the SEC recently commenced administrative proceedings against an investment advisor, Welhouse & Associates, Inc., and its principal, charging them with improperly allocating profitable options trades to the principal’s own accounts while allocating unprofitable trades to the firm’s clients. The SEC’s announcement states that it is the first enforcement proceeding arising from the Commission’s recent initiative to use statistical analyses…

Yesterday, the Delaware House of Representatives unanimously passed a bill prohibiting publicly traded corporations from adopting bylaws that force shareholders to pay legal fees if they do not prevail in lawsuits asserting internal corporate claims against Delaware corporations.  The bill would also allow Delaware corporations to designate Delaware – but not any other state – as the exclusive forum for internal corporate claims.  The Delaware Senate passed the same bill last month, as we reported…

Yesterday, the Delaware Senate passed legislation prohibiting publicly-traded corporations from adopting bylaws that force shareholders to pay legal fees if they bring internal corporate claims against the company in court and do not win. The legislation also allows Delaware corporations to designate Delaware – but not any other state – as the exclusive forum for internal corporate claims. The bill passed on a 16-5 vote and now heads to the Delaware House of Representatives.…

On April 29, 2015, Senator Bryan Townsend introduced legislation that would amend the Delaware General Corporation Law (DGCL) to ban fee-shifting bylaws for Delaware stock corporations (non-stock corporations would continue to be able to adopt fee-shifting bylaws). The bill, Senate Bill No. 75, would also confirm the Court of Chancery’s decision in Boilermakers Local 154 Retirement Fund v. Chevron Corp., 73 A.3d 934 (Del. Ch. 2013), by amending the DGCL to permit board-adopted…