Doug Cornelius on compliance for private equity real estate
“When the SEC seeks civil penalties against a defendant for securities fraud, the Seventh Amendment entitles the defendant to a jury trial.” SEC v. Jarkesy The case presented three issues: (1) Whether statutory provisions that empower the Securities and Exchange Commission to initiate and adjudicate administrative enforcement proceedings seeking civil penalties violate the Seventh Amendment. … Read more »
The use of administrative law judges by the Securities and Exchange Commission has been strained since the jurisdiction was expanded under Dodd-Frank. There have been a series of cases challenging the ALJs under the the Appointments Clause of the Constitution. The problem was that the judges were appointed by an internal panel instead of by the … Read more »
The Securities and Exchange Commission has essentially been claiming that its remedy of disgorgement is not subject to a statute of limitations. To the SEC, disgorgement is not punitive but remedial in that it lessens the effects of a violation by restoring the status quo. Charles Kokesh decided to fight back against this position. In the … Read more »
We have become used to the Securities and Exchange Commission extracting disgorgement of ill-gotten gains from those violating the securities laws. However, the enabling laws do not explicitly grant the SEC the right to disgorgement. We seem to accept that power, but how far back can the SEC go to grab cash from defendants? In … Read more »
One of the most important roles of the President is appointing judges to the bench, with an opening on the Supreme Court being the most important. We are set for another battle over an opening because the process lacks a set of policies and procedures. The vast majority of Supreme Court cases are uninteresting except … Read more »
Sort of. The Supreme Court issued its ruling in Ontario v. Quon regarding a police chief reviewing the content of a police officer’s text messages with consent or a warrant. Many commenters hoped that the Court would issue a broad statement on an employee’s privacy rights in this age of cloud computing and web 2.0. … Read more »
Lots of discussion about the Quon case focused on the lack of technology expertise by the Justices on the Supreme Court. Actually, most people labeled them as Luddites. DC Dicta even claims that Chief Justice Roberts writes his opinions in long hand with pen and paper. This issue that I am hoping to see addressed … Read more »
The Supreme Court issued its opinion in Jones v. Harris Associates, addressing the standard for when mutual fund fees are too high. Background Under §36(b) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 the “the investment adviser of a registered investment company shall be deemed to have a fiduciary duty with respect to the receipt of … Read more »
On Monday, the Supreme Court listened to the oral arguments in Free Enterprise Fund v. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (08-861). For me in the compliance world, the case is about the viability of PCAOB under Sarbanes-Oxley. For the constitutional scholars it is an important separation of powers case. Responding to concerns about accounting that … Read more »
On Monday, the Supreme Court heard the arguments on a case involving mutual fund fees. The case is trying to reconcile the standard for when mutual fund fees are too high. Under §36(b) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 the “the investment adviser of a registered investment company shall be deemed to have a … Read more »