Busted - Don't Be Blindsided by the SEC's New Enforcement Posture

I spoke this week at a Minnesota CLE Conference on the topic of how public companies can avoid liability for their disclosures. In preparing my remarks, it struck me that the SEC is "loaded for bear" in going after public companies and their officers with investigations and enforcement proceedings. The SEC has increased and reorganized its enforcement staff and is trying to raise its profile - really, an attempt to justify the agency's continued existence. Recent examples, just during July and August of 2009:

A recent accounting fraud case against General Electric, where GE agreed to pay a $50 million fine.

The SEC's $33 million settlement with Bank of America for failure to disclose the approval of Merrill Lynch bonus payments in the merger proxy statement. The District Court is considering rejecting the settlement as too lenient, which the SEC is disputing.

The SEC's "clawback" action to recover $4 million in incentive compensation from the CEO of CSK Auto, reported here. It's not clear whether the SEC will be successful in this case. However, clearly, the SEC is trying to send a message to corporate officers that, if the officers are not vigilant to preventing accounting fraud and disclosure violations, their own compensation may be at risk.

This is all happening at a time when private lawsuits for securities fraud are getting more difficult for plaintiffs' attorneys to bring - a point of agreement for the plaintiffs' attorneys and defense attorneys on the panel. This does not mean company officials can relax, due to the increased scrutiny from the SEC and, probably, increased skepticism from judges and juries about public company practices. As I said in this prior post, this atmosphere should lead public companies to carefully consider their disclosure processes, including the disclosure controls and procedures required under SOX.

In other words, once again, "Don't Get Caught Cheating." Or, make sure you're not "BUSTED" by the SEC.