Is a Federal Insider Trading Law Coming?
July 01, 2021
For decades the SEC and the Department of Justice, with the endorsement of federal judges, have used the general securities fraud statutes to patch together a complex and problematic insider trading common law. After years of criticism, however, that could now be changing.
Fifth Amendment Protection of Cellphone Passwords Remains Murky As Supreme Court Declines to Weigh In
July 01, 2021
When law enforcement seeks to compel a subject to provide a passcode to allow them to rummage through a cellphone, courts have not spoken with a unified voice. Some, including New Jersey's highest court, have arrived at the dubious conclusion that requiring an individual to communicate cellphone passcodes to the government does not warrant Fifth Amendment protection. Commentators had hoped that the U.S. Supreme Court would reject that expansive view, however, the Supreme Court declined to wade in, seemingly guaranteeing that continued uncertainty on this critical issue will continue to bedevil criminal practitioners.
Second Circuit May Address SEC's 'Tolling Agreements' Tool
July 01, 2021
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit signaled last month that it may fully address, for the first time, the question of whether a decades-old change to federal law rendered a commonly used tool for extending U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission investigations unenforceable in federal court.
OFAC Asks Non-U.S. Persons to Advance U.S. Foreign Policy
June 01, 2021
In recent years, U.S. prosecutors and regulators have shown increasing interest in prosecuting people and entities with little or no connection to the United States. This trend has been especially pronounced in the context of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and has also extended beyond the FCPA to the prosecution of white-collar crime more generally.
Preserving the Privilege In the Corporate Setting
June 01, 2021
Assessing the risks and liabilities of a potential transaction requires frank and open communication between the parties, including legal counsel. Understanding the scope and limitations of this privilege in transactional settings and who "holds" it is vital to its preservation.
Scared of Your Clients' Involvement With Cryptocurrency?
May 01, 2021
Given the rapid expansion of interest and participation in cryptocurrency transactions, it's not a matter of whether you have an interest in crypto, think it's all a bizarre techno-bubble, the eventual replacement for fiat currency, or somewhere in between. The fact of the matter is your clients, and future clients, are more likely than ever to have a connection to this market, and a brief review of the headlines can make this prospect seem terrifying.
Telehealth: The Wave of the Future for Both Medicine and Enforcement
May 01, 2021
The prevalent view is that telehealth will remain an integral part of our healthcare system post-PHE and may even continue to expand. And that means criminal and civil enforcement focused on fraud committed using, or furthered by the use of, telehealth will be expanding as well, particularly when one looks at the dollars that a regulator can bring in for fraud or noncompliance.
Federal Public Corruption Prosecutions
April 01, 2021
This article describes pending federal prosecutions, which level corruption charges against high-level officials, considers how the theories of prosecution in these cases might be viewed in light of court decisions in other public corruption cases, and concludes with some observations about the outer limits of federal public corruption prosecutions.
