The Law of the Financial Markets from Top Securities Lawyers
Friday, May 29, 2026
From my post on LinkedIn today: The SEC’s rescission of its gag rule is a welcome event, as forcing settling respondents to remain silent about the allegations they have denied is manifestly unfair. However, as detailed in this Cleary Gottlieb post, the issues surrounding an SEC settlement remain. What struck […]
What Is the SEC’s “Gag Rule”? For decades, the SEC has used a settlement condition that most defendants learn about only when they are negotiating with the agency: if you settle, you cannot publicly deny the allegations. Formally embedded in Rule 202.5(e), the policy requires settling parties to agree that […]
From JD Supra: The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals refused to vacate an arbitration award even though the proceedings were not recorded. In Uddin v. TD Ameritrade, Inc., 2026 WL 982854 (9th Cir. Apr. 13, 2026) (Not for Publication), the appellant appealed an award by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) to […]
SEC Charges 21 Individuals in Alleged Decade-Long Insider Trading Scheme The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged 21 individuals for their alleged roles in a wide-ranging insider trading scheme involving confidential information allegedly stolen from multiple global law firms. According to the SEC, the scheme ran for years and generated […]
Look, we understand, it was not fraud, it is a reporting violation, but what is the point of financial penalties if they do not have any impact on the defendant, or have no relationship to the amount of benefit he received? Musk purchased Twitter for $44 billion in a leveraged buyout […]
The SEC released its FY 2025 enforcement results, marking a shift away from the prior Commission’s emphasis on headline-driven case volume and toward a more traditional, fraud-centered enforcement philosophy. Chairman Paul S. Atkins and Commissioner Mark Uyeda emphasized a return to Congress’s original intent by prioritizing cases that directly protect […]
Russ Ryan argues that the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Galette v. New Jersey Transit Corporation may undermine decades of court‑created “regulatory immunity” for FINRA and other self‑regulatory organizations. The author explains that although FINRA is a private corporation not bound by constitutional limits, courts have simultaneously granted it sweeping […]
By Mark J. Astarita, Esq. The Securities and Exchange Commission has announced what it labels “comprehensive revisions” to its Enforcement Manual, marking the first update since 2017. The SEC claims that the changes are designed to strengthen fairness, transparency, and procedural consistency in enforcement investigations, while improving efficiency and resource […]
From Morgan Lewis, a monthly summary of securities enforcement developments from January 2026. Here is a concise, integrated summary of the points you provided: During this period, the SEC continued its enforcement activity with public company accounting and disclosure issues. It maintained a focus on the life sciences sector. Additionally, […]
The SEC recently amended Regulation S-P. This significantly updates how covered financial institutions must approach data protection and incident response. These amendments are designed to modernize privacy protections and expand the scope of what constitutes required safeguards for customer information. The amendments shift the focus from traditional policies. They move […]
