Back to the Supreme Court is the story for SEC administrative proceedings. While many thought that the reforms implemented four years ago in the wake of the High Court’s decision in Lucia resolved the issues it turns out that there
Securities
California Board Diversity Laws Struck Down by Court
In a little over a month’s time, the Superior Court of California (the “Superior Court”) struck down both AB 979 and SB 826, California’s two board diversity statutes. SB 826 required that a public company whose principal executive offices are…
SEC Charges Wells Fargo Advisors With Anti-Money Laundering Related Violations
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced charges against Wells Fargo Advisors for failing to file at least 34 Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) in a timely manner between April 2017 and October 2021. Wells Fargo Advisors, the St. Louis-…Read…
Free Webinar – Exploring The Mechanisms Used to “Fund” Bribery Schemes
On June 9th, I will be participating in a free webinar hosted by Lextegrity titled “Exploring the Mechanisms Used to ‘Fund’ Bribery Schemes.”
Generally speaking, a corporate bribery scheme often involves the creation of a “pot of money” within a…
SEC Administrative Proceedings: Back to the Supreme Court
The SEC and Respondents in administrative proceedings may start to believe they are caught in time travel – back to the future. Four years ago the U.S. Supreme Court decided Lucia v. SEC, 138 S.Ct. 2044 (2018). There the High…
SEC’s ALJ Problems…Again
Readers will recall my exploits with the SEC’s ALJ system a few years back, where my client, and others, were forced into that system rather than federal court, lost at trial with significant procedural and due process right violations. We…
Climate Disclosure: Getting a Handle on Your Largest Risks

This “Pulse Survey” entitled “Steps Toward Building More Sustainable Organizations” from the Harvard Business Review is invaluable. It’s helpful in a number of ways. One way in which it’s helpful is discussing issues to consider when trying to…
Alliance Global Investors, Three Portfolio Managers Charged with Fraud
Offering fraud cases are frequently the largest group of actions filed during any period by the Commission. Many of the cases have common elements: A scheme centered on some catchy product tied to crypto or some other trendy asset group;…
JOBS Act at 10: Deep Dive with Dave
April 2022 marked the ten-year anniversary of the JOBS Act. My former partner and friend, Dave Lynn, co-editor of TheCorporateCounsel.net and The Corporate Counsel, invited me to join him on his podcast, Deep Dive with Dave. We discussed the anniversary,…
California Court Strikes Board Gender Law on Constitutional Grounds
Last week, a California Superior Court in Los Angeles County delivered this Crest v. Padilla decision that found that the California law requiring that California-headquartered companies have a minimum number of women directors – known as “SB 826” – violates…