SEC Updates Enforcement Manual

The SEC’s Division of Enforcement (the “Division”) has updated its enforcement manual, which serves as a reference for the Division’s staff to use in investigating “potential violations of the federal securities laws.” The updates include:

• Increasing the transparency of the Wells process (i.e., notification of an enforcement action).
• Clarifications related to the SEC’s restoration of its “prior practice of permitting a settling party to request that the Commission simultaneously consider an offer of settlement and any related request for a Commission waiver from automatic disqualifications and other collateral consequences that result from the underlying enforcement action.”
• Additional updates, including changes related to making internal collaboration more consistent, the formal order process, and updating the “framework for referrals to criminal authorities.”

The Division has indicated that, going forward, it expects to review the enforcement manual on an annual basis (the last update was made in 2017).

For more information, see the press release on the SEC’s Web site.