Hey Harry — The Fish Stinks From the Head Down
Bill Singer responds to the recent statements by Harry Markopolos that the SEC is “overlawyered”.
Bill Singer responds to the recent statements by Harry Markopolos that the SEC is “overlawyered”.
Today’s post includes FCPA excerpts from various speeches/comments made by enforcement officials over the past couple of days. Stepping to the podium will be Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer; Mark Mendelsohn – Deputy Chief of the DOJ Fraud Section; and Cheryl Scarboro – the head of the SEC’s newly formed FCPA unit.
PIPE transactions continue to be a troubled and troubling vehicle for financing. The SEC recently filed suit against Gary Gross alleging that he defrauded several customers and caused more than $2.7 million in losses.
This is a saga but not a great one. Frankly, not even a modest one. Come to think of it, as sagas go, this is more like a shaggy-dog story that starts with much promise only to fritter away into so much fluff and meaningless detail.
Both the antibribery provisions and the books and records and internal control provisions of the FCPA apply to issuers. That was easy. What is not so easy is figuring out just which companies are issuers.
Nearly three years after the SEC’s approval of the merger of the NASD and the NYSE into the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (FINRA), the rule consolidation process continues to plod along. Bill Singer provides his analysis of the new FINRA borrowing and lending rules.
Today, the SEC issued a press release outlining “interpretive guidance” for potential climate change legislation. While many applauded the move, many others were left scratching their heads and wondering exactly what purpose the SEC’s release had served.
Dan Hurson provides tips and advice on how to handle an internal corporate investigation gleaned from his experience as Assistant Chief Litigation Counsel with the SEC enforcement division.
For those anxious to see FCPA enforcement actions contested in an open, transparent, and adversary proceeding, yesterday’s announcements will be a blow as I expect FCPA enforcement to become even more opaque in the future.
Voluntary disclosure of potential FCPA violations is a tricky issue, made even more difficult given the potential conflict of interest FCPA counsel has in advising the company as to the important disclosure issue, particularly where the disclosure only involves a potential FCPA violation.
