MVA White Collar Defense, Investigations, and Regulatory Advice Blog

On October 2, 2024, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced it had settled enforcement proceedings against Thrivent Investment Management, Inc. (“Thrivent”), a SEC dually-registered broker-dealer and investment adviser, stemming from Thrivent’s alleged failure to update a calculator tool utilized by its representatives to determine which shares in certain 529 College Savings Plans are recommended to its retail customers.

Welcome to “The Desk”, Moore & Van Allen's (MVA) updated Swaps and Derivatives newsletter. Our goal is simple, to provide you key updates and insights that you can quickly digest and easily share with your peers, boss, or anyone else that shares a passion for swaps and derivatives news. 

On Sunday, September 29, California Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed California Senate Bill 1047, which would have established novel safety regulations on large artificial intelligence (AI) models.  Known as the Safe and Secure Innovation for Frontier Artificial Intelligence Models Act, SB 1047 would have required developers of covered models, which are defined to include only large, high-cost and power-intensive AI models, to, among other things.

Moore & Van Allen (MVA), Financial Regulatory Advice and Response Member, Kathryn Wellman authored the article, “FDIC final resolution planning rule increases requirements on large insured depository institutions”, which was published by Reuters and Westlaw Today on August 12.

Securities regulators have long been concerned with the potential regulatory risks associated with geographically dispersed broker-dealer offices, citing the observation that the distance of these offices from compliance and supervisory personnel could make it easier for them to be involved in and conceal securities laws violations.  On-site internal inspections of those offices have been viewed as a vital component of the supervisory process in mitigating those potential risks.  SEC Staff Legal Bulletin No. 17 (March 19, 2004).  However, given recent advances in technology and changing work environments resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, broker-dealer supervisory practices have evolved.  This evolution has not gone unnoticed by regulators such as FINRA, who has adopted a new voluntary inspections pilot program rule which will allow member firms to perform required office inspections by remote means.  FINRA member firms will have the ability to opt into this voluntary program beginning on June 1, 2024.  The discussion below covers some aspects of what FINRA member firms may expect, including potential benefits, regarding this new rule.  

On October 4, 2023, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco announced the next (but not final) chapter of the U.S. Department of Justice’s concerted attempt to promote voluntary corporate self-disclosure of misconduct with a new Mergers & Acquisitions Safe Harbor Policy.

Background

The DOJ in recent years has expressed a commitment to creating clear, predicable, and standardized policies that incentivize companies to voluntarily self-disclose misconduct to the government, which the Department describes as the “clearest path for a company to avoid a guilty plea or an ...

From July 20-23, 2023, the South Asian Bar Association of North America hosted its annual conference, “The Next Revolution,” in Boston. SABA’s conference brought together 800 South Asian attorneys from all over the continent, including in-house counsel, government attorneys, and private practitioners.

Palvia was selected for the Class of 2023 of SABA’s Leadership Institute and met many members of the class at the conference, along with SLI graduates from prior years. Learn more about SABA here.

_{[Palvia is second from the left at the SABA Leadership Institute Reception]}

On June 6, 2023, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (the Federal Reserve), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC, and collectively with the Board and the FDIC, the Agencies) issued their final version of the Interagency Guidance on Third-Party Relationships: Risk Management (the Final Guidance). The Final Guidance is intended to promulgate effective risk management practices by banking organizations with respect to all of their third-party relationships.  

The Final Guidance replaces each ...

Moore & Van Allen (MVA) Litigation Member Tanisha Palvia and Associate Alli Davidson discuss the Supreme Court decision on the intent standard for False Claims Act violations and explore its implications in their article titled, “SCOTUS clarifies intent requirement for False Claims Act cases” which was published by Westlaw and Reuters on July 6.

Related Materials

SCOTUS clarifies intent requirement for False Claims Act cases

When following supervisory scrutiny of fees charged to bank customers, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) activities are often the focus. The Minnesota Bankers Association and Lake Central Bank of Minnesota, however, have recently filed a lawsuit against the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and Martin Gruenberg (in his capacity as the FDIC’s Chairman) seeking, among other things, declaratory and injunctive relief from the FDIC’s application or enforcement of its recent supervisory guidance on non-sufficient funds (NSF) fees (the ...