fine

In one of the most watched campaign finance disclosure enforcement cases, last week, the Washington State Supreme Court upheld a trial court’s finding that a trade association intentionally failed to register and report contributions and expenditures in opposition to a ballot initiative that would have required labeling of genetically modified…
Continue Reading Campaign Finance Violation for Unregistered Political Committee Upheld in Washington State, but $18 Million Penalty Must Still Pass Excessive Fine Test

The Securities & Exchange Commission hit a Philadelphia-area private equity firm today with a major penalty, in the SEC’s first case involving alleged violations of its 2010 “pay-to-play” rules.  More enforcement actions may be coming.

The SEC pay-to-play rules were adopted to prevent, among other things, executives of investment firms…
Continue Reading SEC Announces Major Fines In First Pay-to-Play Enforcement Case

Earlier this year we predicted that battles over the definition of “coordination” and Super PAC “independence” would play a significant role in the development of campaign finance law in the coming years.   In keeping with that forecast, last week, the California Fair Political Practices Commission for the first time fined…
Continue Reading Fine Levied Against California Super PAC a Possible Signal of Things to Come