Benach Legal Services LLC

12/10/2014

The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit tossed out the cases against two former hedge fund traders, Todd Newman and Anthony Chiasson, citing the trial judge’s “erroneous” instruction to jurors.

11/14/2014

Is Rahm under investigation by the SEC for pay-to-play violations?

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel accepted more than $600,000 from firms managing city pension money, despite the SEC's pay-to-play rule.

11/06/2014

Compliance officers coming under increased scrutiny in a court where the SEC has a 100% win rate.

Recently the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Market Abuse Unit, within the Division of Enforcement, announced that it was filing charges against Judy Wolf, a former compliance officer at Wells Fargo, alleging that Ms. Wolf altered documents that she was responsible for after the SEC brought ins…

10/23/2014

The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) recently made a preliminary announcement touting its accomplishments and achievements over the just ended fiscal year in the Division of Enforcement.  As was expected when MaryJo White, a former prosecutor and trial litigator was appointed Chair of the…

08/29/2014

The Whistleblower program at the Securities and Exchange Commission has been in the news recently for its $400,000 award to an internal whistleblower who reported securities law violations to both the SEC and FINRA.  Joe Nocera in the New York Times identified the whistleblower as Bill Lloyd, an age…

08/21/2014

Is there a minimum amount necessary for an insider trading suit?

For at least a year, one of the prominent phrases in financial media has been “Too Big to Jail”, a criticism of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Department of Justice over the lack of large scale actions taken against the large financial institutions, such as the banks and investment c…

06/12/2014

As lawyers specialize, clients may withdraw valuable business based on vague "optics."

06/12/2014

Compliance matters.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced in May 2014, that they have filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio charging Professional Investment Management, and its President and Chief Compliance Officer, Richard Cowgill, with fraud in the…

04/28/2014

Recently, Mary Jo White passed her one-year mark as the Chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).  In a recent speech at the annual SIFMA convention, she took a look back at the Enforcement accomplishments and priorities that the SEC is focusing on.  White took note of the fact that the…

12/12/2013

For those of who watching the possible criminal action against JP Morgan in the Madoff case, please check out my law school classmate, Brandon Garrett's, useful and comprehensive guide to Federal Organizational Plea Agreements, http://lib.law.virginia.edu/Garrett/plea_agreements/

Founded by Thomas Jefferson in 1819, the University of Virginia School of Law is a world-renowned training ground for distinguished lawyers and public servants. Currently ranked among the top law schools in the United States, Virginia has educated generations of lawyers, instilling in them a commitm...