SEC and Commonwealth Financial Network Reach Tentative Settlement in Seven-Year-Old Case

Commonwealth, SEC Reach Tentative Settlement Over $93M Penalty

The Securities and Exchange Commission and Commonwealth Financial Network have reached a tentative settlement over an enforcement action tied to revenue sharing payments in which the firm successfully fought a $93 million penalty.

The SEC and Commonwealth asked the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts on Jan. 30 to stay proceedings to allow them time “to attempt to conclude settlement negotiations.”

District Court Judge Indira Talwani agreed to give the parties until March 31 to file a joint status report.

The long-running case stretches back seven years. The SEC sued Commonwealth in 2019, alleging that from at least July 2014 through December 2018, the company breached its fiduciary duty to its advisory clients by failing to disclose conflicts of interest in a revenue-sharing program with National Financial Services.

CFTC’s Chicago Office Has “Become a Ghost Town”

The CFTC’s Chicago division of enforcement has just one trial attorney left.
Known as a group of heavy-hitters, attorneys and investigators in the Chicago office have had a role in most major CFTC enforcement actions since the birth of the agency in 1975. In recent months, that office has become a ghost town. […]

“Chicago is the spiritual home of the futures markets; it’s where it all began,” says one former attorney in the Chicago enforcement division. “To wipe out the enforcement staff in a place like Chicago sends a very bad signal to market participants about whether the government is watching what they’re doing and whether or not they have to abide by the law.”

Man sentenced to 20 years for role in $74 million crypto investment fraud

A federal judge in the Central District of California on Monday sentenced Daren Li to the statutory maximum of 20 years in prison for his role in a cryptocurrency investment fraud and money laundering conspiracy that stole at least $73.6 million from victims.

Li, a 42-year-old dual citizen of China and St. Kitts and Nevis, remains at large after fleeing federal custody in December 2025, prosecutors said in a statement.
According to court records cited in the statement, Li pleaded guilty in November 2024 to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. In his plea agreement, he admitted to managing the flow of victim funds through a sophisticated network of domestic and international financial accounts.

Li told prosecutors that his co-conspirators contacted U.S. victims through social media, phone calls, messages, and dating services to establish professional or romantic relationships. They used encrypted messaging applications for communication.

SDNY’s Revised Voluntary Self-Disclosure Program Offers New Carrots

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in the SDNY will soon roll out a new corporate self-disclosure policy providing companies with the clearest and quickest path to declination of prosecution.

On February 5, 2026, at the Securities Enforcement Forum New York, 2026, Jay Clayton, the U.S. Attorney for SDNY, previewed the new program, which, if adopted as expected, will break new ground in at least two ways:

–The outcome for a company will be clearer at an earlier stage because prosecutors will issue letters of conditional declination close in time to the self-reporting rather than at the conclusion of a long investigation.

–A voluntary self-disclosure based on a good faith belief that information is not known to the government will lead to a declination, even if the information is already known to the government. […]

While the announcement provided a preview of the key features of the anticipated program, the written policy has yet to be released. Companies and counsel will want to study it closely before taking action. A few questions will be top of mind….