The following is part of our annual publication Selected Issues for Boards of Directors in 2025Explore all topics or download the PDF.


The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Department of Justice (DOJ) both had active enforcement years in 2024. The SEC’s aggressive focus on crypto enforcement continued, resulting in the filing and continued litigation of several cases in federal courts nationwide. The DOJ announced a number of policy updates in 2024, including guidance related to voluntary disclosures and corporate enforcement, and remained active in the foreign corruption and national security spaces. Finally, both the SEC and DOJ have increased their focus on AI and new technologies, showing increasing concern about the risks associated with AI, with the DOJ issuing guidance on AI in compliance programs and the SEC bringing cases related to misleading marketing about the use of AI in investment strategies. As noted more fully below, with the incoming Trump Administration, enforcement priorities at both SEC and DOJ are expected to shift. The SEC is expected to have a renewed focus on traditional enforcement areas, such as accounting fraud, misrepresentations in securities offerings and insider trading, with significant reductions in enforcement activity related to crypto, cyber incidents and ESG issues. The DOJ is likely to continue its focus on FCPA and national security (including sanctions and export controls), while devoting increasing resources to immigration and violent crime. Additionally, the benefits of cooperation are likely to increase at both the SEC and DOJ, with the potential for reduced penalties for companies able to effectively demonstrate their cooperation and self-remediation.Continue Reading An Active Year in Enforcement, with Changes to Come

The following post was originally included as part of our recently published memorandum “Selected Issues for Boards of Directors in 2024”.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Department of Justice (DOJ) both accelerated their enforcement efforts in 2023, and seem poised to further intensify these efforts in 2024.  At the same time, the SEC disseminated new disclosure requirements across sectors, including disclosures related to cybersecurity and artificial intelligence (AI), and renewed its focus on the corporate and social aspects of environmental, social and governance (ESG) guidance.  Its Enforcement Division remained focused on litigating high-stakes cases in the digital assets space and expanded its sweep related to off-channel communications. Continue Reading 2023 Year-in-Review: Developments and Trends in White Collar Enforcement Litigation

At the September 21, 2023 Conference of the Global Investigations Review, Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General Marshall Miller announced actions by the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) to further incentivize companies engaged in M&A to prioritize compliance.  Miller affirmed that “acquiring companies should be rewarded—rather than penalized—when they engage in careful pre-acquisition diligence and post-acquisition integration to detect and remediate misconduct at the acquired company’s business.”[1] He noted that in practice, “… [Main Justice’s] Criminal Division has declined to take enforcement action against companies that have promptly and voluntarily self-disclosed misconduct uncovered in the mergers and acquisitions context and then remediated and cooperated with the Justice Department in prosecuting culpable individuals,” and that the DOJ “will be looking to apply that same approach Department-wide.”[2]  Continue Reading DOJ Announces Additional Guidance on Voluntary Self-Disclosure in M&A Context