Disclose! Disclose! Disclose! Says the S.E.C. to a Municipal Advisor
3/28/16
By: John Goselin and Ze’eva Kushner Banks
Earlier this month, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced its first ever enforcement proceeding for breach of fiduciary duty for municipal advisors created by the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010. On March 15, 2016, …
S.E.C. Smacks CFO and CAO for Inadequate Internal Controls
3/23/16
By: John Goselin and Ze’eva Kushner Banks
On March 10, 2016, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced a settlement with Texas-based oil company Magnum Hunter Resources Corporation, its former chief financial officer and its former chief accounting officer arising from …
Can You Hear (or See) Me Now? No, and that May Constitute Spoliation
2/24/16
By: Andy Treese
The Georgia Court of Appeals recently held that a municipality may be subject to sanctions for failure to preserve audio recordings of a police pursuit when the recordings were destroyed in the ordinary course of business before …
S.E.C. Warns Customers and Financial Advisors Regarding Overstated Credentials
6/8/15
They say everybody does it. Embellishing your resume to get a job, attract business or get ahead in this highly competitive world. Well, if you work in the financial services industry and are trying to …
The War Against Pre-Dispute Arbitration Clauses Rages On
4/30/15
By: John H. Goselin, II and Benjamin Keck
On March 10, 2015, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released a 728-page “Arbitration Study.” According to the CFPB’s Arbitration Study, which primarily focused on credit card contracts, consumers are generally unaware …
4/28/15
Conflicts, conflicts as far as the eye can see! On April 20, 2015, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced a settlement with BlackRock Advisors LLC and its chief compliance officer arising from a failure to …
2/27/15
The attorney-client privilege is a fixture in American jurisprudence and the oldest recognized privilege. The privilege, however, is not absolute. The Delaware Supreme Court recently adopted an exception to the attorney-client privilege that gives shareholders the …
12/10/14
By: John Goselin
FINRA’s Notice to Members 14-40 revises the regulator’s position on the permissible scope and nature of confidentiality provisions that broker-dealers can agree to relating to the discovery process in legal proceedings or as a term in …
FINRA Continues Push for Massive, All-Encompassing Securities Transaction Database
10/10/14
On September 30, 2014, FINRA issued NTM 14-37 which updated FINRA’s December 2013 proposal (see NTM 13-42 )to develop the Comprehensive Automated Risk Data System (CARDS). FINRA proposes to compile a database that tracks …
Bitcoins: Have You Started Thinking About the Concept?
6/10/14
By: John Goselin & Stephanie Stewart
Bitcoins. Have you heard of them? If not, you probably will. Are you starting to think about how bitcoins will impact your business? If not, you probably should.
The media describes bitcoins as a …
Georgia Court Says FIRREA Imposes Jurisdictional Bar to D&O Insurer’s Failed Bank Coverage Action
4/1/14
By: Michael Wolak
In a recent decision that could dramatically change the face of failed bank insurance coverage litigation, a federal district court judge reaffirmed earlier holdings that a failed bank’s D&O insurer’s declaratory judgment action against the FDIC (as …
