On May 3, the SEC announced that the Cyber Unit in the Division of Enforcement is renamed the “Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit” and will expand by 20 positions to approximately 50 positions.[1] Regulation of digital assets has
On April 5, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board levied a $100,000 fine against Scott Marcello, the former Vice Chair of Audit at KPMG. The penalty is noteworthy for two reasons: (1) it’s the largest monetary penalty ever levied by
On March 16, the SEC filed a municipal bond fraud case against Crosby Independent School District and its former CFO in a $20 million bond offering.[1] Crosby is a suburb of Houston, Texas. The SEC also charged the
There has been lots of breathless commentary in the financial press and the blogosphere over the SEC’s August 2021 filing of an insider-trading case involving so-called “shadow trading.” Shadow trading as defined in a 2020 academic paper occurs when someone
It’s not a secret that, under the Biden administration, the Securities and Exchange Commission has prioritized enforcement of disclosures concerning Environmental, Social, and Governance Issues (ESG), going so far as to form an enforcement task force to examine misconduct related
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission recently charged two individuals— Florida residents, Suyun Gu, and his friend, Yong Lee—for their involvement in allegedly fraudulent wash sales involving out-of-the-money options in “meme stocks.” So-called “meme stocks” [1] are stocks that
On August 16, 2021, the financial thresholds specified in the definition of “qualified client” under Rule 205‑3 of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (“Advisers Act”) will increase (i) from $1 million to $1.1 million (assets under management test), and (ii)
