Over the past few years, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) has made it very clear that bringing enforcement actions for misconduct remains one of its top priorities. In 2014, the SEC reported having charged 80 people in cases involving trading on the basis of inside information, more than 135 parties with violations relating to reporting and disclosure, and multiple firms were charged for custody violations as well.
Last week, the Chair of the SEC, Mary Jo White spoke at the Corporate Counsel Institute at Georgetown University in Washington D.C. Ms. White made it very clear that the agency’s increased enforcement actions would not be on the decline anytime soon.
In her speech, Ms. White discussed the following topics:
- The Focus on Waivers and Exemptions
- Disqualifications Are Not Enforcement Remedies
- The Distinction Between Enforcement Remedies and Disqualifications Resulting From Them
- The Rigor of the Process Followed by the Commission and Its Staff
Chair White also addressed the commission’s commitment to holding violators responsible and deterrence. To read the full speech, click here.
With the SEC is spending more and more resources on technology to identify wrongdoers, it’s important for registered firms to continually test and review their compliance programs to ensure adequacy in preventing violations of applicable securities laws.
For more information on this and other related subjects, please contact us at (619) 278-0020 to schedule a consultation.