By Pamela J. Bethel A broad coalition in Congress is attempting to amend the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) by establishing a uniform search warrant requirement that the government must follow if it wishes to ask a third-party service provider, such as Google, to disclose the content of an individual’s emails. In order to obtain your...
Category: Securities Law
When the Government Calls, Listen — and Call Your Lawyer
By Pamela J. Bethel Corporate Counsel magazine just published a very important article by Scott N. Wagner and Joseph Mamounas of Bilzin Sumberg Baena Price & Axelrod in Miami on the steps that in-house counsel should take when he or she receives a call out of the blue from the Securities and Exchange Commission, asking...
Needed: Broad Definition of ‘Whistleblower’ Under Dodd-Frank
By Pamela J. Bethel Jordan A. Thomas, formerly a leading SEC attorney who was involved in developing the agency’s whistleblower program and now chairman of the whistleblower representation practice at Labaton Sucharow, as well as Vanessa De Simone, an associate in the firm’s whistleblower representation practice, recently wrote an important op-ed article in the National...
The Strange Case of the Paper-Napkin Conspiracy
By Pamela J. Bethel Recently, we explained, in the context of white-collar crime, why e-mail is a dangerous tool to use, even when you are not guilty, and why one should never be too complacent about what prosecutors may be up to. Here is another lesson: Even a seemingly unbreakable conspiracy can fall apart. All...
SEC Set to Create New Rules on ‘Crowdfunding’
This is the second blog post in our series about new federal regulatory initiatives in the first half of 2014. The U S. Securities and Exchange Commission has issued a notice of proposed rulemaking that will help implement a new law that permits “crowdfunding” on a limited basis for the sale of securities. Under Title...
Rise in SEC Enforcement Expected to Continue This Year
By Pamela J. Bethel The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Enforcement Division announced on Nov. 9 that it filed an all-time high 735 actions and collected $2.8 billion in penalties in fiscal year 2011. These included, the SEC said, 15 separate actions involving wrongdoing related to the financial crisis. Seventeen individuals were named in such...
Is SEC Rewriting Insider Trading Law?
As we and others have noted lately, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Justice Department have taken a new and aggressive attitude towards insider trading. Both in high-profile prosecutions like that of the leaders and employees of the Galleon Group LLC hedge fund, and in more routine civil enforcement actions, it looks to a lot...
Traders Beware — The SEC Is Watching
The Securities & Exchange Commission is taking a new and aggressive position on insider trading. The message is clear: “Traders beware! We are watching.” Investigators are not only watching; they are using new tactics to hunt new targets, casting their nets to ensnare players both big and small. Several recent investigations and convictions reflect this...