How Corporate Officials Can Get A Good Night’s Sleep Despite Current SEC Enforcement Trends

This is the first of an eight part series discussing new trends in SEC enforcement which impact corporate directors and officers and steps that can be taken to avoid future liability.

Introduction

Enforcement officials and regulators are charting new, aggressive paths. New approaches, strategies and tactics are being used to cast an ever widening net.

• A focus on corporate governance means increasing liability for directors and officers.

• Fairness in the markets and eliminating insider trading means increased liability for employees on the job and entanglement in law enforcement investigations for business organization.

• Leveling the playing field for business means increasing FCPA liability.

• Cooperation with law enforcement can mitigate liability but at skyrocketing costs.

• Greater efficiencies for government by pooling its assets and using parallel proceedings also fuels a trend toward criminalization and can result in overreaching.

• Everywhere there are whistleblowers.

Navigating these currents requires a knowledge of current enforcement trends, a vision of where the trends go in the future and preparation now to cope with the events of tomorrow.

This series will analyze these issues by focusing on five key points:

1) An increasing focus on directors and officers.

2) Potential liability of employees.

3) Key trends in FCPA and anti-corruption cases regarding individuals.

4) The increasing criminalization of the securities laws.

5) Increasing numbers of whistleblowers.

The conclusion discusses future trends and avoiding liability.

Next: Directors and officers