Lisa Vicens

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The following is part of our annual publication Selected Issues for Boards of Directors in 2025. Explore 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

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Department of Justice (DOJ) ramped up their enforcement efforts in 2022, often in highly coordinated actions, including with other regulatory agencies such as the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).
Continue Reading Accelerated Pace and Increased Regulatory Expectations in Enforcement and Compliance Investigations

On June 1, 2020, the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (the “Department”) released revisions to its guidance regarding the Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs, which the Department uses in assessing the “adequacy and effectiveness” of a company’s compliance program in connection with any decision to charge or resolve a criminal investigation, including…

As discussed in our most recent blog post, on April 30, 2019, the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ” or “the Department”) announced updated guidance for the Criminal Division’s Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs (“the Guidance”).  The Guidance is relevant to the exercise of prosecutorial discretion in conducting an investigation of a corporation, determining whether to bring charges, negotiating plea or other agreements, applying sentencing guidelines and appointing monitors.[1]  The Guidance focuses on familiar factors: the adoption of a well-designed compliance program that addresses the greatest compliance risks to the company, the effective implementation of the company’s compliance policies and procedures, and the adequacy of the compliance program at the time of any misconduct and the response to that misconduct.  The Guidance makes clear that there is no one-size-fits-all compliance program and that primary responsibility for the compliance program will lie with senior and middle management and those in control functions.
Continue Reading DOJ Guidance on Corporate Compliance Programs: A Checklist for Directors

On April 30, 2019, the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice announced updated guidance for the Criminal Division’s Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs (“the Guidance”) in charging and resolving criminal cases.  This memorandum highlights key updates and discusses the themes present across versions of the Guidance.  Overall, this newest version places greater emphasis…

When reviewing a corporation’s financial statements and internal controls, independent auditors frequently request copies of materials that were prepared for ongoing or anticipated litigation.  Auditors may wish to examine reports from internal investigations, legal opinions addressing potential liabilities, or presentations about prospective litigation prepared for the board of directors, among other materials.  Indeed, it is becoming more and more common for auditors to conduct their own “shadow investigation” of a company’s internal investigation and, as part of that shadow investigation, to request access to the internal investigation’s underlying work product:  the collection of documents that the company’s lawyers have deemed “key,” the analysis of transactions tested by forensic accountants working at counsel’s direction, and notes from interviews conducted by counsel in the course of the investigation.  Auditors may make similar requests when investigating the possibility of “illegal acts” at a company, as required under Section 10A of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
Continue Reading Audits and Adversaries: Making Disclosures to Your Auditors Without Waiving Your Privilege

On April 27, a civil FCPA litigation against three former executives of a Hungarian telecommunications company officially came to a close after more than five years of contentious litigation in the Southern District of New York when Judge Richard Sullivan approved the settlements of the last two defendants and entered judgment in the matter.  The case alleged that three former executives of Magyar Telekom, Plc., a Hungarian telecommunications company, participated in a scheme between 2004 and 2006 to bribe public officials in Macedonia in order to secure favorable treatment for Magyar’s Macedonian subsidiary.  All three defendants were foreign nationals working for an overseas company; the charged conduct took place exclusively on foreign soil; and the defendants continue to reside overseas.
Continue Reading SEC, Hungarian Executives Settle 5-Year FCPA Suit that Generated Government-Friendly Rulings on Threshold Legal Issues

Several sources have reported that Acting SEC Chair Michael Piwowar recently issued a directive mandating that only the Acting Director of the Division of Enforcement can authorize the issuance of formal orders of investigation, the means by which the SEC authorizes its investigative staff to issue subpoenas.[1]  The change—which reportedly strips approximately 20 Enforcement Division senior officers of the power to authorize formal orders—was not announced publicly and is not reflected in the SEC’s Enforcement Manual.
Continue Reading Acting SEC Chair Michael Piwowar Takes Steps to Centralize the Process of Issuing Formal Orders – Are Commentators Drawing the Right Lessons?