Partner George Canellos participated on a panel titled, “Investment Banking and Capital Markets Enforcement Issues and Developments,” at the 2022 Security Industry and Financial Markets Association (“SIFMA”) C&L annual seminar. James Meadows, Head of Litigation, Barclays, moderated the discussion featuring Mr. Canellos alongside Shanda Hastings, Senior Lead Counsel, Wells Fargo, Mei Lin Kwan-Gett, Deputy General Counsel & Head of Global Litigation, Citigroup, and Steven R. Peikin, Partner, Sullivan & Cromwell.
During the one-hour panel, held on March 23 at 10:25 am ET, the speakers addressed the following topics:
- Personal devices: Financial institutions face a series of regulatory investigations relating to the use of personal devices. What are the lessons learned and the prescriptive compliance measures to protect against violations in this space?
- SARs: The SEC, FINRA, and FinCen have continued to pursue broker dealers for failing to file SARs. The Second Circuit’s endorsement of the SEC’s authority to pursue Bank Secrecy Act matters seems to presage continued matters in this space. What should broker dealers be focused on to prevent running afoul of regulatory expectations?
- Trading Enforcement: Law enforcement continues to focus trading abuses, with an emphasis on spoofing, cross-market manipulation, and collusive behavior. The DOJ Fraud Section’s Market Integrity and Major Frauds unit, the SEC, and the CFTC continue aggressively to pursue these matters with important lessons learned from past litigation and significant issues on the horizon in pending matters.
- Events Relating to Meme Stocks: 2021 saw the so-called “meme stock” phenomenon, raising a variety of important and complex issues, including relating to manipulation, Reg SHO, and payment for order flow.
- Archegos: The collapse of Archegos and the resulting substantial financial losses suffered by a number of financial institutions have highlighted some important lessons for prime brokers and swap counterparties.
