In order to provide an overview for busy in-house counsel and compliance professionals, we summarize below some of the most important SEC enforcement developments from the past month, with links to primary sources. The past month has been another busy one for both SEC enforcement and regulation, including record-breaking penalties and the first Reg BI enforcement action. Here, we examine the following:

• The SEC’s clawback of profits under SOX Section 304 absent allegations of misconduct;
• The SEC’s crackdown on allegedly hidden robo-advisor fees;
• How the SEC is enforcing the “best interest” standard under Reg BI;
• The SEC’s imposition of penalties for allegedly failing to include a whistleblower carve-out in employment agreements; and
• Whether there exists a duty to correct a response to a voluntary SEC information request.

1. The SEC Claws Back Profits from a CEO Without Charging Individual Misconduct

On June 7, 2022, the SEC filed charges against New Jersey-based Synchronoss Technologies, Inc. and seven employees, including the former CFO and General Counsel, over long-running accounting improprieties from 2013 to 2017. The company settled scienter-based fraud charges and agreed to pay a civil penalty of $12.5 million. The former General Counsel settled charges for misleading auditors in two transactions and causing the company’s violations of certain reporting provisions under Sections 13(a) and 13(b)(2)(A) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (“Exchange Act”)....

Read Full Story: https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/top-5-sec-enforcement-developments-for-1817...