LawUpdates.com - Securities Law Updates

Former CEO of Defunct New York Brokerage Firm Held Liable for Massive Investment Fraud

2012-05-30T22:05:51+00:00

New Releases/No Action Letters || U.S. v. Mandell || Ross Mandell, a former Chief Executive Officer of Sky Capital, LLC, a brokerage firm, and related Sky Capital companies, has been sentenced in Manhattan federal court to 12 years in prison.

SEC Charges Mother, Daughter, and Their Attorney in Illegal Penny Stock Scheme

2012-05-29T22:07:31+00:00

New Releases/No Action Letters || SEC v. Christel S. Scucci, et al. || The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged a mother and daughter along with their attorney in a scheme to unlawfully acquire and sell billions of shares of penny stock in unregistered transactions.

Clawback Provisions Applied in Suit against Two Executives in Texas to Recover Bonuses and Stock Profits Received During Accounting Fraud

2012-05-24T01:45:40+00:00

New Releases/No Action Letters || SEC v. Michael A. Baker, et al. || The Securities and Exchange Commission has sued two former executives at an Austin, Texas-based surgical products manufacturer to recover bonus compensation and stock sale profits they received during an accounting fraud at the company.

CPSS and IOSCO Issue Final Report on Principles for Financial Market Infrastructures and Seek Comment on Two Consultative Documents

2012-05-24T01:32:49+00:00

New Releases/No Action Letters || Final Report on Principles for Financial Market Infrastructures || The Committee on Payment and Settlement Systems (CPSS) and the Technical Committee of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) have published the final report on the Principles for Financial Market Infrastructures.

CFTC’s Division of Market Oversight Issues Advisory Addressing Bona Fide Hedge Transactions and Positions

2012-05-22T20:55:26+00:00

New Statutes, Regulations and Rules || Bona Fide Hedge Treatment under the Commission’s Position Limit Regulations || The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) Division of Market Oversight (DMO) has issued an Advisory regarding the treatment of bona fide hedging transactions and positions under Commission Regulations 1.3(z), 1.47, and 1.48 as they existed prior to the adoption of the final rule addressing Position Limits for Futures and…

Former Detroit Officials and Investment Adviser to City Pension Funds Asked to Account for Role in Influence-Peddling Activity

2012-05-21T23:32:38+00:00

New Releases/No Action Letters || SEC v. Kwame M. Kilpatrick, et al. || The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged former Detroit mayor Kwame M. Kilpatrick, former city treasurer Jeffrey W. Beasley, and the investment adviser to the city’s public pension funds involved in a secret exchange of lavish gifts to peddle influence over the funds’ investment process.

FTC Takes Action against Bogus Precious Metals Investment Scheme

2012-05-18T18:07:21+00:00

New Releases/No Action Letters || FTC v. Premier Precious Metals, Inc., et al. || The Federal Trade Commission has taken action to halt a telemarketing operation that allegedly took millions of dollars from senior citizens by conning them into buying precious metals on credit without clearly disclosing significant costs and risks, including the likelihood that consumers would subsequently have to pay more money or…

SEC Releases Risk Alert on Unauthorized Trading

2012-05-16T22:07:51+00:00

New Releases/No Action Letters || Strengthening Practices for Preventing and Detecting Unauthorized Trading and Similar Activities || The Securities and Exchange Commission has released an alert to help firms prevent and detect unauthorized trading in brokerage and advisory accounts.

FTC Closes Eight-Month Investigation of Express Scripts, Inc.'s Proposed Acquisition of Pharmacy Benefits Manager Medco Health Solutions, Inc.

2012-05-16T00:40:15+00:00

New Releases/No Action Letters || The Proposed Acquisition of Medco Health Solutions, Inc., by Express Scripts, Inc. || The Federal Trade Commission has closed its investigation of the proposed acquisition of pharmacy benefits manager Medco Health Solutions, Inc. by Express Scripts, Inc.

SEC Establishes New Supervisory Cooperation Arrangements with Foreign Counterparts

2012-05-10T19:15:54+00:00

New Releases/No Action Letters || Memorandum of Understanding between the U.S. SEC and the ESMA and the U.S. SEC and the CIMA || The Securities and Exchange Commission has established comprehensive arrangements with the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority (CIMA) and the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) as part of long-term strategy to improve the oversight of regulated entities that operate across national borders.

SEC Issues Risk Alert on Strengthening Practices for Underwriting of Municipal Securities, and Investor Bulletin on Municipal Bonds

2012-05-3T20:22:37+00:00

New Releases/No Action Letters || Strengthening Practices for the Underwriting of Municipal Securities and Investor Bulletin: Municipal Bonds || The Securities and Exchange Commission has issued a Risk Alert on compliance measures to help broker-dealers fulfill their due-diligence duties when underwriting offerings of municipal securities. The agency also issued an Investor Bulletin to help educate investors about municipal bonds.

Bipartisan Bill for More Effective Oversight of Investment Advisers Proposed

2012-05-3T20:00:10+00:00

New Proposed Legislation || Investment Adviser Oversight Act of 2012 || The Investment Adviser Oversight Act of 2012 would amend the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 to provide for the creation of National Investment Adviser Associations (NIAAs) registered with and overseen by the SEC.

Lockheed Martin Corporation Reaches $15.85 Million Settlement with U.S. to Resolve False Claims Act Allegations

2012-05-1T19:00:12+00:00

New Releases/No Action Letters || U.S. ex rel. Becker, et al. v. Tools & Metals, Inc., et al. || Lockheed Martin Corporation has agreed to pay $15,850,000 to settle allegations that it mischarged perishable tools used on numerous government contracts, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

U.S. Sentencing Commission Promulgates Amendment to the Federal Sentencing Guidelines Responding to the Dodd-Frank Act

2012-04-30T18:19:36+00:00

New Statutes, Regulations and Rules || Sentencing Guidelines for United States Courts || The United States Sentencing Commission has promulgated amendments to the federal sentencing guidelines responding to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act) regarding securities fraud, mortgage fraud, human rights offenses, drug offenses, and other offenses.

KBR Ex-Chairman and CEO, UK Solicitor, Others Sentenced to Prison for Violation of FCPA in Connection with Bribery of Nigerian Officials

2012-04-30T17:57:54+00:00

New Releases/No Action Letters || USA v. Tesler et al. || Albert “Jack” Stanley, a former chairman and chief executive officer of Kellogg, Brown & Root Inc. (KBR), has been sentenced to 30 months in prison for conspiring to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) by participating in a decade-long scheme to bribe Nigerian government officials to obtain engineering, procurement…

Latvian Trader, 12 Others, Charged for Securities Market Abuses

2012-04-27T18:36:28+00:00

New Releases/No Action Letters || In the Matter of Alchemy Ventures, Inc., et al.; SEC v. Igors Nagaicevs || The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged a trader in Latvia for conducting a widespread online account intrusion scheme in which he manipulated the prices of more than 100 NYSE and Nasdaq securities and caused more than $2 million in harm to customers of U.S. brokerage firms.

SEC Charges Former Executives and Accountants with Fraud at British Subsidiary of Medical Devices Company

2012-04-27T17:26:56+00:00

New Releases/No Action Letters || In the Matter of Symmetry Medical, Inc., et al. || The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged four former senior executives and accountants at the British subsidiary of an Indiana-based manufacturer of medical devices and aerospace products for their roles in an accounting fraud that was so pervasive that it distorted the financial statements of the parent company.

Ponzi Scheme Targeting Persian-Jewish Community in Los Angeles Shut Down

2012-04-14T00:13:03+00:00

New Releases/No Action Letters || SEC v. Shervin Neman, et al. || The Securities and Exchange Commission today obtained an emergency court order to halt an ongoing Ponzi scheme that targeted members of the Persian-Jewish community in Los Angeles.

FINRA Warns Investors of Email Hack Attacks

2012-04-11T22:02:05+00:00

New Statutes, Regulations and Rules || Email Hack Attack? Be Sure to Notify Brokerage Firms and Other Financial Institutions || The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has issued a new Investor Alert called Email Hack Attack? Be Sure to Notify Brokerage Firms and Other Financial Institutions.

New House Legislation Seeks to Reform Small Business Federal Contracting Policy

2012-04-11T20:12:57+00:00

New Proposed Legislation || Small Business Advocate Act of 2012 || House Small Business Committee Chairman Sam Graves (R-MO) has introduced legislation to reform small business federal contracting policy.

Two Former Canopy Financial Co-Founders Sentenced to 15 and 13 Years in Prison for $75 Million Investment Crime

2012-04-10T23:16:54+00:00

New Releases/No Action Letters || USA v. Blackburn, et al. || Two co-founders of Canopy Financial, Inc., a bankrupt health care transaction software company based in Chicago, Illinois, have been sentenced to 15 and 13 years in prison for defrauding investors and clients of more than $93 million.

Former Chief Financial Officer of Taylor, Bean & Whitaker Pleads Guilty to Fraud Scheme

2012-04-10T22:55:15+00:00

New Releases/No Action Letters || USA v. Armas || Delton de Armas, a former chief financial officer (CFO) of Taylor, Bean & Whitaker Mortgage Corp. (TBW), has pleaded guilty to making false statements and conspiring to commit bank and wire fraud for his role in a more than $2.9 billion fraud scheme that contributed to the failures of TBW…

Oregon-Based Expert Consulting Firm and Owner Charged with Insider Trading in Technology Sector

2012-04-7T01:38:54+00:00

New Releases/No Action Letters || SEC v. John Kinnucan and Broadband Research Corp. || The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged John Kinnucan and his Portland, Oregon-based expert consulting firm Broadband Research Corporation with insider trading. The charges stem from the SEC’s ongoing investigation of insider trading involving expert networks.

San Francisco-Area Investment Adviser in Hot Water for Defrauding Investors with Bogus Audit Report

2012-04-7T01:19:37+00:00

New Releases/No Action Letters || SEC v. James Michael Murray || The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged a San Francisco-area investment adviser with defrauding investors by giving them a bogus audit report that embellished the financial performance of the fund in which they were investing.

Small Business Legislation Filed in the House of Representatives

2012-04-5T21:52:13+00:00

New Proposed Legislation || GET Small Business Contracting Act of 2012 || House Small Business Committee Chairman Sam Graves (R-MO) has introduced legislation that will help create jobs by providing more contracting opportunities for small firms.