In the recent case of Crispin v. Audigier, a California judge ruled that Facebook and MySpace messages that aren’t publicly available are protected information under the Stored Communications Act, and therefore can’t be subpoenaed for use in civil litigation. Buckley Crispin sued clothing maker Christian Audigier for copyright infringement, alleging that Audigier used his artistic [...]
Archive | June, 2010
School Official Disciplined for Misuse of LexisNexis
The Massachusetts State Ethics Commission fined Mark Rivera, the former Lawrence School Department Urban Affairs Liaison and Special Assistant to the School Superintendent, for misuse of his access rights to LexisNexis. The Lawrence School Department purchased access to the LexisNexis database so Rivera could obtain contact information for parents no longer living in the district, [...]
Why Is It Called a “Wells Notice”?
In 1972, SEC Chairman William J. Casey appointed a committee to review and evaluate the Commission’s enforcement policies and practices. Chairman Casey appointed John A. Wells, a lawyer at Royall, Koegel & Wells in New York, to the committee. He also added and former SEC Chairmen Manny Cohen and Ralph Demmler. Chairman Casey asked Jack [...]
Compliance Bits and Pieces for June 11
Here are some interesting stories from the past week: SEC Union: Staff Need Not Check BlackBerrys After Hours by Bruce Carton in Compliance Week‘s Enforcement Action In short, Khuzami and his senior colleagues can call, email and text SEC Enforcement staff all they want after hours–but can’t do much about it if staff members fail [...]
Getting Cleaned by Oil Spill Stock Scams
I doubt you have missed the news about the oil spill mess in the Gulf of Mexico. The scammers have clearly noticed and sense an opportunity to make a quick buck. Some companies may issue press releases, or send unsolicited faxes or spam emails that might include: Claims to have products or technologies that are [...]
Snake Oil 2.0
From Hugh MacLeod of Gaping Void: “Anyone who has spent a lot of time studying blogs and Web 2.0, will be fully aware of all the blethering hyperbole that comes with it. Every business model that ever came before is DEAD, to be replaced forever by community! YAY! Well, some dinosaur business models may be [...]
Warning the Witness
At the Compliance Week 2010 conference, David Seide was nice enough to give me a copy of his new book: Warning the Witness: A Guide to Internal Investigations and the Attorney-Client Privilege. David co-wrote the book with Gary Collins, Managing Director & Director of Compliance at GE Energy Financial Services. Since the DOJ, SEC and [...]
Private Equity and the Custody Rule
With the impending removal of the 15 Client Rule exemption from registration with the SEC, I was scratching my head trying to figure how to make the SEC’s new custody rule work for private equity. The SEC recently updated its guidance on custody rule compliance truing to add clarity for advisers to pooled investment vehicles. [...]
Ernst & Young’s 11th Global Fraud Survey
Driving ethical growth – new markets, new challenges, the title of Ernst & Young’s 11th Global Fraud Survey, shows fraud is up; audit and legal are stretched to deal with these challenges; compliance is patchy; and Boards need more and better information to manage the risks. They interviewed more than 1,400 chief financial officers, and [...]
Private Fund Manager Registration Status
Shearman & Sterling put together a great client publication on private fund manager registration requirements being considered by Congress: Private Fund Manager Registration as U.S. Financial Reform Legislation Approaches the Finish Line. Among the many provisions to be reconciled in the 1,600+ pages of each bill are those that would require private fund managers to [...]
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