Buckley Commentary & Analysis

"Price-gouging a priority as pandemic persists" by Michael N. Morrill

One of the federal government’s most immediate responses to the coronavirus crisis was a highly visible campaign against profiteering. While the absence of an overarching federal anti-price gouging statute has forced prosecutors to improvise and legislators to contemplate new laws in order to...

"When the court orders a Brady violation" by Ian Acker

What happens when prosecutors fail to make constitutionally required disclosures of evidence because the court ordered them not to? The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit weighed in on this issue recently,...

"SEC flexes regulatory and enforcement muscles in pandemic markets" by Thomas A. Sporkin and Timothy J. Coley

The Securities and Exchange Commission is sticking to its three-fold mission of protecting investors, maintaining fair and orderly markets, and encouraging capital formation as it responds to the Covid-19 pandemic by issuing regulatory guidance on crisis-relevant market and capital issues,...

"Attorney-client privilege should not stop at the prison gate" by Elizabeth R. Bailey

U.S. law respects the confidentiality of a prisoner’s communications with counsel, including phone calls and visits, but with one critical exception that goes unnoticed by many attorneys: The government routinely monitors — and then uses in court — emails between federal prisoners and their...

"Double Jeopardy in cross-border investigations" by Nadav Ariel

The growth in cross-border criminal investigations has intensified the risk of overlapping prosecutions by multiple countries, potentially resulting in duplicative prison sentences and/or fines. Some countries recognize that multiple punishments for the same conduct are unjust and have taken...

"DOJ may face difficulties extraditing remaining defendants in international insider trading ring" by Bradley A. Marcus

The ongoing prosecution in Manhattan of seven defendants in an international insider trading scheme will test the government’s ability to bring international defendants within U.S. jurisdiction. While the government has, at this point, secured two guilty pleas and a conviction, it is unclear...

"Supreme Court will likely decide whether courts can order disgorgement in SEC enforcement proceedings" by Olivia A. Rauh

The Supreme Court will hear arguments on March 3 in a case that will likely determine whether the SEC has statutory authority to seek disgorgement in enforcement actions, and whether the courts have authority to order it.

The SEC’s authority to seek disgorgement was virtually...

"2020 examination priorities: OCIE pushes again on information security" by Ian Acker

The Securities and Exchange Commission’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations announced its annual examination priorities for...

"The first days: Setting the tone for a successful internal investigation" by Bree Murphy

An internal discovery or a criminal or civil regulator’s inquiry that sparks an internal investigation thrusts in-house counsel into the uncomfortable and complex role of exploring potential wrongdoing inside the company’s walls. These are high-stakes matters in which the range of outcomes is...

"Foreign defendants beware of 'outside the United States' sentencing enhancements" by Paige Ammons

Foreign citizens and companies criminally prosecuted in the United States may face an unwelcome surprise if convicted ─ a higher sentence due solely to the fact that they operated in a foreign country. A little known enhancement in the Federal Sentencing Guidelines governing fraud offenses...