Category Archives: SEC policy and practice

Initial Coin Offerings and SEC Enforcement: Protecting Investors (Part IA)

  By Dan Portnov Last week I had the pleasure of attending a reception featuring SEC Commissioner Robert Jackson, who spoke about FinTech, ICOs and crypto-assets. Jackson’s prepared comments and subsequent Q&A session were a rare look into one Commissioner’s concerns and hopes for … Continue reading →

Aside | Posted on July 5, 2018 by | Leave a comment

Supreme Court Rules SEC Administrative Judges Are Unconstitutional, But Special Counsel Mueller is Safe

Posted on June 22, 2018 by

By Dan Portnov Yesterday, the Supreme Court decided Lucia v. SEC, holding that the Securities and Exchange Commission’s five-member commission must appoint the agency’s Administrative Law Judges (“ALJs”), as these in-house judges are “inferior officers” under the Constitution’s appointments clause. … Continue reading →

Posted in SEC Investigation, SEC policy and practice | Leave a comment

Surviving Parallel Proceedings

Posted on June 19, 2018 by

  By Dan Portnov Late last week the other shoe finally dropped for Theranos founder and ex-CEO Elizabeth Holmes, as she and fellow executive Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani were indicted on charges of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Following … Continue reading →

Posted in Criminal Investigation, DOJ policy and practice, SEC Investigation, SEC policy and practice, Wiretaps | Leave a comment

Is DOJ Changing Its Practice on Press Releases after Dismissal or Acquittal?

Posted on September 28, 2017 by

I’ve written about vented several times (see here and here) about DOJ’s practice of leaving press releases announcing indictments on its website even after the defendant has been acquitted of the charges or after the charges have been dismissed. DOJ’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Dismissal of charges in indictment, DOJ policy and practice, SEC policy and practice | 1 Comment

Like DOJ, the SEC Has Trouble with Misleading Press Releases

Posted on March 6, 2017 by

I’ve written before about the fundamental unfairness of the Department of Justice’s practice of issuing press releases touting indictments but not issuing press releases when the charges are dismissed or the defendant acquitted. It looks like the SEC has the … Continue reading →

Posted in SEC policy and practice, Securities fraud | 2 Comments