In brief
Please join us for a weekly series, hosted by Baker McKenzie’s North America Government Enforcement partners Jeffrey Martino and Jerome Tomas.
This weekly briefing is available on demand and will cover hot topics and current enforcement actions related to white collar crime and criminal investigations in the US and abroad to arm you with the information you need for your business week.
As one of the largest global law firms, we will call upon our exceptionally deep and broad bench of white collar experts throughout the world and particularly in the commercial hubs of Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America to join our weekly discussion series.
These briefings cover:
- High-profile DOJ case updates and implications
- SEC enforcement developments
- CFTC enforcement developments
- Other white collar defense industry developments
29 August 2022
This week’s discussion will cover the following:
- PCAOB Statement of Protocol Agreement with the China Securities Regulatory Commission
- China Ministry of Finance regarding oversight of PCAOB-registered public accounting firms in China and Hong Kong
5 August 2022
This week’s discussion will cover the following:
- Our white collar thoughts on this week’s “Economist” article on ESG
- SEC breaks new ground in insider trading case involving crypto assets
- DOJ remains vigilant in promoting competition in the labor markets through several recent enforcement efforts:
- Health care staffing company and former regional manager are negotiating an agreement with DOJ to resolve wage-fixing charges
- DOJ announced a civil settlement with poultry processors to end a conspiracy to exchange compensation information and collaborate on compensation decisions
- DOJ and FTC are joining with NLRB to strengthen their partnerships in combating labor competition issue
21 June 2022
This week’s discussion will cover the following:
- The Antitrust Division’s updates of its leniency policy and revisions to the leniency FAQs and the increased burden on applicants
- Policy shifts and the revival of criminal enforcement under Section 2 of the Sherman Act
24 January 2022
This week’s discussion will cover the following:
- Indictment of Belarus government officials for air piracy in connection with forced landing of Ryanair jet
- First DOJ indictment over threatening of election officials
- SEC v. David P. Forte, et al. – SEC and DOJ Continue to Pursue Insider Trading Based on Circumstantial Evidence
- Discussion of most recent tipper-tippee insider trading case
20 January 2022
This week’s discussion will cover the following:
- SEC v Panuwat
- Shadow Trading Case – Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss Denied
12 January 2022
This week’s discussion will cover the following:
- Sentencing in Elizabeth Holmes case
- SEC Pays Out Whistleblower Bounty for Overseas Tip
- A Discussion of the Geographic Sources of Whistleblower Tips
13 December 2021
This week’s discussion will cover the following
- 6 January Investigation Update
- White House Anti-Corruption Strategy
- New OFAC Anti-Corruption Sanctions
- DOJ Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on FARA
- ESG Update: Office of Comptroller of the Currency’s National Risk Committee Identifies Climate Change Initiative in Semiannual Risk Perspective report
30 November 2021
This week’s discussion will cover the following:
- New OECD guidance on anti-corruption
- SEC Enforcement Focus Relating to Undisclosed Executive Compensation and Perquisites Continues: ProPetro Holding Corp. matter.
22 November 2021
This week’s discussion will cover the following:
- Update on Elizabeth Holmes trial
- Update on Belarus Sanctions
- FinCEN Notice on Environmental Crimes
- Insights on SEC Enforcement – SEC Enforcement’s FY21 report and the NYU Pollack Center for Law & Business and Cornerstone Research report on SEC Corporate Enforcement
15 November 2021
This week’s discussion will cover the following:
- New Cambodia Sanctions
- Steve Bannon Indictment
8 November 2021
This week’s discussion will cover the following:
- Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco on corporate enforcement priorities under the Biden Administration
- The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is targeting big tech
- What do they want and why do they want it?
- How should tech firms prepare, whether they receive a request from CFPB or not?
1 November 2021
This week’s discussion will cover the following:
- Managing Allegations of Workplace Wrongdoing: Independent Investigator’s Report on Chicago Blackhawks Allegations of Sexual Misconduct
25 October 2021
This week’s discussion will cover the following:
- Tether Holdings CFTC Crypto Settlement: Reminder that the CFTC is asserting a prominent role in the regulation and enforcement of cryptocurrencies.
- SEC Report on January 2021 Market Frenzy: “Staff Report on Equity and Options Market Structure Conditions in Early 2021”
- Will DOJ Prosecute Steve Bannon for Contempt?
18 October 2021
This week’s discussion will cover the following:
- 6 January Commission and possible prosecution of Steve Bannon for contempt.
- SEC Enforcement Director Grewal’s speech on appropriate approaches to compliance, proactive enforcement, electronic message retention/production, cooperation, and civil penalties.
27 September 2021
This week’s discussion will cover the following:
- CFTC v. HDR GLOBAL TRADING LIMITED, ET AL
- Motion to Dismiss Unregistered Crypto Exchange Claims
- Control Person Liability Runs Into “Minimum Contacts”
- House Committee on January 6 Attack Subpoenas Trump Advisors
20 September 2021
This week’s discussion will cover the following:
- Details Behind The SEC Whistleblower Award That Pushed the Program Over USD 1 Billion in Whistleblower Payouts
- SEC v. DAYAKAR R. MALLU – Tipper-Tippee Insider Trading Case – SEC Investigation Tactics and Trends
- Indictment of lawyer by Trump-appointed Special Counsel for lying to the FBI in Russia investigation.
14 September 2021
This week’s discussion will cover the Elizabeth Holmes Theranos trial.
30 August 2021
This week’s discussion will cover the following:
- Organized crime charges in new elder abuse case
- Novel SEC Insider Trading Action — Shadow Trading — SEC v. Matthew Panuwa
- Quick blurb on 18 year old and under crackdown on video game playing in China
- SEC v. MANISH LACHWANI – The SEC’s Enforcement Focus on Unicorns
23 August 2021
This week’s discussion will cover the following:
- Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) Report on Lessons of Corruption in Afghanistan
- Novel SEC Insider Trading Action — Shadow Trading — SEC v. Matthew Panuwa
9 August 2021
This week’s discussion will cover the following:
- SEC brings charges unregistered crypto exchange: In the Matter of Poloniex, LLC
- The need to keep your auditor at arm’s length — SEC brings auditor independence case for audit bid-related misconduct against accounting firm, it’s partners and the Chief Accounting Officer of public company: In the Matter of Ernst & Young LLP, et al. and In the Matter of William G. Stiehl
- Accusations against Governor Cuomo: Key Legal Issues
- New Belarus Sanctions
3 August 2021
This week’s discussion will cover the following:
- New DOJ opinion on Trump tax returns
- New DOJ policy on subpoenas to new organizations
- New DOJ memorandum on White House communications
- SEC Chair Gensler’s Public Statement on Disclosures Required by Chinese Companies Listed In US
26 July 2021
This week’s discussion will cover the following:
- The Importance of Having Up-To-Date Automated Accounting Procedures, Effective Manual Accounting Procedures, and Trained Accounting Staff: The SEC’s Latest Accounting Case Against Tandy Leather Factory Inc. and its former chief executive officer Shannon Greene.
- Indictment of Trump Advisor Thomas Barrack
- Biden Executive Order on Promoting Competition
13 July 2021
This week’s discussion will cover the following:
- Manhattan DA’s Indictment of the Trump Organization and Allen Weisselberg
- New SEC Enforcement Director – New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal
- SEC and federal criminal charges filed arising out of alleged fraudulent scheme to sell “insider trading tips” on the Dark Web- SEC v. Apostolos Trovias
29 June 2021
This week’s discussion will cover the following:
- SEC Cybersecurity Enforcement Sweep: The SEC Clarifies, Sort Of
- Latest, and Interesting, Comments By SEC Commissioner on ESG
- Combating Global Corruption Act of 2021
- Global Magnitsky Reauthorization Act
- New Belarus Sanctions
22 June 2021
This week’s discussion will cover the following:
- New Charges in 1MDB Case
- FARA Reform Proposals
- Possible New Russia Sanctions
- Cyber SEC Enforcement: Latest SEC Disclosure Controls and Procedures Enforcement Case
- A New SEC Cyber Enforcement Sweep
9 June 2021
This week’s discussion will cover the following:
- Potential SEC ESG Disclosure Rulemaking and Materiality: Commissioners Allison Herren Lee and Elad Roisman Continue to Volley
- White House strategy statement on corruption and national security
- Belarus sanctions
- Bulgaria sanctions
- Executive Order on Western Balkans
25 May 2021
This week’s discussion will cover the following:
- Insight on Gary Gensler’s SEC Enforcement Agenda: SEC Chair’s Remarks at 2021 FINRA Annual Conference
- Discussion of Treasury’s Plan to Increase IRS Enforcement and Narrow the Tax Gap
- Update on Nord Stream 2 Sanctions
18 May 2021
This week’s discussion will cover the following:
- Russian Response to US Sanctions and Designation of US as an “Unfriendly” Country
- Trial of Mayor of Fall River, Massachusetts for Extorting Marijuana Businesses
- The Challenges of Fitting Modern Practices into Old Laws: SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce’s Statement Regarding an Index Fund SEC Settlement
- SEC’s Continued Slow Embrace of Crypto Assets: Division of Investment Management’s Statement on ETF Holdings of Crypto Assets and Potential Enforcement Implications to Assets and Potential Enforcement Implications
10 May 2021
This week’s discussion will cover the following:
- Crypto developments: SEC Chair Gensler’s Testimony, Dogecoin and Saturday Night Live
- The “Swiss George Floyd Case” (for more information about this case, please see this documentary featuring Simon Ntah here
3 May 2021
This week’s discussion will cover the following:
- First Voluntary Self-Disclosure of Sanctions and Export Violations Leads to Settlement between Software Company and DOJ
- The Sudden Resignation of SEC Enforcement Director Alex Oh: What is Next For SEC Enforcement?
26 April 2021
This week’s discussion will cover the following:
- New SEC Enforcement Director Alex Oh: What It May Mean For SEC Enforcement
- DOJ Pattern and Practice Investigation of Minneapolis Police Department
19 April 2021
This week’s discussion will cover the following:
- First guilty plea in Capitol attack cases: What it means for future prosecutions
- New Russia sanctions: What they do and don’t do, and what could be next
- Comments by Acting Director of the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance, “SPACs, IPOs and Liability Risk under the Securities Laws”: What it means for SEC enforcement
12 April 2021
This week’s discussion will cover the following:
- Criminal Antitrust Prosecutions of No Poaching and Wage Fixing Agreements: Perspective of a Leading Antitrust Lawyer.
- Enforcement perspectives arising out of the SEC’s April 9, 2021 “Risk Alert” relating to ESG products and services offered by investment advisers, registered investment companies and private funds.
- DOJ Priorities under the Biden Administration: What the Budget Tells Us.
30 March 2021
This week’s discussion will cover the following:
- SEC Enforcement Sweep Looks Into SPAC IPOs
- New Legal Issues in the Capitol Riot Cases
15 March 2021
This week’s discussion will cover the following:
- DOJ/SEC FCPA priorities
- Oath Keepers conspiracy case
- New Russian law to protect officials against corruption charges
- Does SEC Commissioner Crenshaw’s speech about increased corporate penalties foreshadow a possible retraction of the SEC’s 2006 Statement Concerning Financial Penalties and what we can expect from corporate securities enforcement over the next 4 years?
8 March 2021
This week’s discussion will cover the following:
- This week, Jerome is joined by his partners Amy Greer and Jen Klass and they will dig deep into the enforcement issues presented by the SEC’s “Enforcement Task Force Focused on Climate and ESG Issues”
1 March 2021
This week’s discussion will cover the following:
- The SEC’s Plan to Dig Into Public Company Climate Change Disclosures: A White Collar Enforcement Perspective
- Key Takeaways from Merrick Garland Confirmation Hearing
- Update on Capitol Riot Cases
- Secretary Blinken Statement on Anticorruption Champions
22 February 2021
This week’s discussion will cover the following:
- Potential prosecution of former President Trump for incitement of the Capitol attack
- The SEC’s latest message following the “The Market Events”: trading suspension in In the Matter of SpectraScience, Inc.
- New Transparency International Corruption Report
- The SEC’s ICO enforcement initiative lives on: SEC v. Coinseed, Inc., et al. (S.D.N.Y. 17 February 2021)
15 February 2021
This week’s discussion will cover the following:
- Update on Capitol riot cases
- The legal definition of “incitement of insurrection”
- Discussion of the reported DOJ and SEC investigations into the retail traders in last month’s market events
- A reminder on the scope of the US insider trading laws, courtesy of SEC v. Mark Ahn (D. Mass) (also a parallel criminal case was filed)
8 February 2021
This week’s discussion will cover the following:
- An update on the Capitol Riots
- Consideration of new sanctions on Russia
- An update on stock market events, including the FINRA notice on broker-dealer “game-style” trading apps
1 February 2021
This week’s discussion will cover the following:
- Analysis of the Reddit/WallStreetBets-driven stock surges, with a special appearance by Jerome’s 15 year old son, Sam, who has been following the events on Reddit and Discord
- Discussion of the Hoskins appeal and the future of the FCPA’s “Agency” theory
- Update on the Capitol raid prosecutions
18 January 2021
This week’s discussion will cover the following:
- New SEC Enforcement Statute of Limitations and Disgorgement Provisions Contained in the NDAA
- New AML Whistleblower Bounty Provision in the NDAA
- Criminal charges against Capitol rioters
- Julian Assange extradition case
4 January 2021
This week’s discussion will cover the following:
- What criminal statutes might apply to the attack on the Capitol?
- 18 USC 2383 – Rebellion or Insurrection
- 18 USC 2384 – Seditious Conspiracy
- 18 USC 1752 – Restricted Building or Grounds
- What, if any, criminal statutes might apply to President Trump’s call last week with Georgia Secretary of State?
- The 25th Amendment — A brief history of the amendment, what the amendment provides for and how it might apply in light of these events.
14 December 2020
07 December 2020
23 November 2020
16 November 2020
9 November 2020
26 October 2020
19 October 2020
5 October 2020
29 September 2020
8 September 2020
24 August 2020
17 August 2020
10 August 2020
3 August 2020
27 July 2020
20 July 2020
13 July 2020
6 July 2020
29 June 2020
22 June 2020
17 June 2020
9 June 2020
26 May 2020
