These are some of the compliance-related stories that recently caught my attention.
Alex Oh Named SEC Director of Enforcement
Washington D.C., April 22, 2021 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that Alex Oh has been appointed Director of the Division of Enforcement. Oh was most recently a partner at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP and co-chair of the law firm’s Anti-Corruption & FCPA Practice Group. She was previously an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Criminal Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, where she was a member of the Securities & Commodities Fraud Task Force and the Major Crimes Unit.
Wirecard employees removed millions in cash using shopping bags
Olaf Storbeck
Financial Times
The practice started as early as 2012, and six-digit amounts of banknotes were often moved in Aldi and Lidl plastic bags, former employees told the police. The total amount, the current whereabouts of the cash and the purpose of removing it from the building are unclear. Wirecard, whose main business was processing payments for merchants, owned its own bank but did not have branches. As demand for cash grew over time, Wirecard Bank bought a safe which was located in the group’s headquarters in a Munich suburb.
https://www.ft.com/content/31a8ed93-f602-47f0-9120-4b4f152ec7bc
Former Goldman Analyst Barred by Finra for Insider Trading
Bloomberg Law
Maguire bought shares in two companies through undisclosed accounts after seeing internal emails that showed the analyst covering the stocks was raising his ratings from “neutral” to “buy,” according to a Tuesday statement from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. Maguire made the purchases in April and June 2020, after the upgrades were approved internally but before research reports announcing the changes were published.
https://news.bloomberglaw.com/securities-law/ex-goldman-research-analyst-barred-by-finra-for-insider-trading
Petitioner asks SEC to clarify when NFTs are securities, recommends NFT rulemaking
John Filar Atwood
Jim Hamilton’s World of Securities Regulation
Like initial coin offerings (ICOs) before them, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have grown in popularity very quickly, and Arkonis Capital believes it is now time for the SEC to step in and provide guidance on whether NFTs are securities. In a rulemaking petition, Arkonis said that a concept release on how to regulate NFTs is a meaningful first step in providing guidance, but that it would only prove beneficial if it is followed by an SEC rulemaking on the regulation of NFTs.
https://jimhamiltonblog.blogspot.com/2021/04/petitioner-asks-sec-to-clarify-when.html
The Flu Vanished During Covid. What Will Its Return Look Like?
Keith Collins
New York Times
