The enforcement and regulatory priorities of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have begun to come into focus now that SEC Chairman Jay Clayton has been in office for over a year. Courts have also issued decisions that will significantly impact securities enforcement moving forward.

This practice note discusses the Supreme Court’s recent decision holding that the SEC’s longstanding process for appointing Administrative Law Judges (ALJs) was unconstitutional; the Commission’s current focus on cybersecurity, cryptocurrencies and initial coin offerings, retail investors, whistleblowers, and fiduciary rule reform; waivers of attorney work protection resulting from oral presentations to the SEC staff; and the statute of limitations for SEC enforcement actions.

The Lexis Practice Advisor article written by David Kornblau and Gerald Hodgkins can be found here.

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Photo of Gerald Hodgkins Gerald Hodgkins

A former Associate Director for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Enforcement Division (SEC), Gerald Hodgkins has a broad regulatory enforcement practice focused on representing financial institutions, public companies and individuals in investigations and enforcement actions brought by the key financial regulators. Jerry…

A former Associate Director for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Enforcement Division (SEC), Gerald Hodgkins has a broad regulatory enforcement practice focused on representing financial institutions, public companies and individuals in investigations and enforcement actions brought by the key financial regulators. Jerry has extensive experience in matters pertaining to the SEC, with particular focus on broker-dealer and investment adviser regulation, public company accounting and U.S. anti-corruption law. He also has represented clients in matters before the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB).

During his 20-year tenure at the SEC, Jerry oversaw more than 100 enforcement matters, covering the entire breadth of the SEC’s law enforcement authority. In addition to matters involving financial services regulation and public company oversight, Jerry oversaw multiple investigations involving insider trading, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), and municipal securities regulation. The enforcement actions he oversaw included the largest penalty in SEC history for issuer reporting and disclosure fraud and the first, and still largest, settlement involving the clawback of executive compensation under Section 304 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.

In 2020, Jerry was elected to the steering committee of the Corporation, Finance and Securities Law Community of the DC Bar. He frequently speaks at conferences and continuing education programs and has authored several articles focused on SEC enforcement.