"No-Deny" SEC Settlements? No Problem!

SEC ‘No-Deny’ Policy Can Continue, Ninth Circuit Panel Rules

Defendants in Securities and Exchange Commission enforcement actions will still contend with a controversial “no-deny” policy when settling with the agency in court, after a panel of Ninth Circuit judges signed off on the practice.

The regulator has historically permitted the targets of court actions to settle without admitting wrongdoing, while requiring that they also not publicly deny the allegations, and the appeals court Wednesday deemed that condition constitutionally sound.

The opinion from Judge Daniel A. Bress denied the petition by individuals who entered “no-deny” settlements with the SEC to review the agency’s decision to keep the rule….

Trump to Sign Order Easing Path for Private Assets in 401(k)s

President Donald Trump will sign an executive order Thursday that aims to allow private equity, real estate, cryptocurrency and other alternative assets in 401(k)s, a major victory for industries looking to tap some of the roughly $12.5 trillion held in those retirement accounts. […]

Trump will also direct Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer to work with counterparts at the Treasury Department, Securities and Exchange Commission, and other federal regulators to determine whether rule changes should be made to assist in the effort. The SEC will be asked to facilitate access to alternative assets for participant-directed retirement plans.

UK man who lost 8,000 bitcoin in landfill says he hasn’t given up, pivots to tokenizing legal claim

James Howells, the man who has been hunting down his lost hard drive containing 8,000 BTC, addressed circulating reports claiming that he has given up on his 12-year search.

In 2013, a British IT engineer accidentally threw out his hard drive containing Bitcoin he had mined a few years earlier, which ended up in a landfill site in Newport.

As bitcoin’s value soared exponentially over the following years, Howells sought permission to excavate the landfill, only to have his request rejected by the regional council. Howells explored other options, such as using AI to help locate the hard drive. With today’s bitcoin price of $114,231, Howell’s lost hard drive is worth around $915 million.

Earlier this week, several social media posts emerged saying that Howells has officially ended his quest to recover the lost bitcoin. […]

Howells said he has simply “pivoted” his strategy, but has not given up on his lost bitcoin, as he remains the legal owner of the 8,000 BTC, citing a High Court ruling in January this year.

“The Council may own the hard drive, but they do not own the digital contents of that hard drive – the 8,000 bitcoin are legally mine in law – the balance of which can be verified by anyone worldwide at any time,” Howells told The Block.

Howells said now he is planning to tokenize his legal ownership of the lost 8,000 BTC into a new Bitcoin Layer 2 smart token named Ceiniog Coin (INI)….

SEC Cites Falsified Compliance Records in Two Recent SEC Settlements with CCOs

Two SEC enforcement actions from earlier this month, each including charges against a firm’s Chief Compliance Officer in their personal capacity, underscore the importance of maintaining accurate records and upholding transparency during regulatory examinations. While the cases differ in detail, both focus on allegations that the CCO provided misleading information to regulators during an exam—highlighting one of the principal ways that individual liability can arise. Typically, CCOs are given the benefit of the doubt, but can face personal exposure when they (1) participate in the underlying misconduct, (2) fail entirely in their compliance duties, or (3) mislead regulators. These recent actions illustrate the third category. Source:

Justice Department, LA Office Spar Over White-Collar Enforcement

A Justice Department official in Washington is pushing back on acting Los Angeles US Attorney Bill Essayli’s reliance on recent white-collar policy to dismiss charges against a fast-food executive who’s donated to President Donald Trump. Essayli’s court filing Tuesday pointed to a May memo from the head of DOJ’s criminal division to justify his office’s July 29 motion to dismiss the $47 million fraud case against Andrew Wiederhorn, the founder and chairman of FAT Brands, Inc. The judge in the case demanded an explanation for the dismissal.

White-collar defense lawyers have been quick to interpret the development in LA as an invitation to ask for dismissals on any matters that fall outside the Trump administration’s priorities. But on Wednesday, an official from the department’s headquarters distanced the criminal division from Essayli’s filing.

“The Criminal Division is not on the Wiederhorn matter, and the Division’s policies are not applicable to U.S. Attorneys’ Offices,” the official said in a statement to Bloomberg Law. “Equally, case decisions and policies made by U.S. Attorneys apply only to their office.”