SEC

On Wednesday, the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB) announced that its expanded pay-to-play rules will cover municipal advisors, including third-party solicitors, as of August 17, 2016.

As we noted previously and discussed during Covington’s Corporate Political Activity & Government Affairs Compliance Conference earlier this month, the MSRB has been drafting…
Continue Reading MSRB Pay-to-Play Rule Expanded, Opening Door to Enforcement

A $12 million settlement announced last week by the Securities & Exchange Commission suggests that the SEC will aggressively pursue alleged schemes connecting political contributions to government contracts even if the political contributions do not violate its 2010 pay-to-play rule.  According to the settlement order, in 2010, the head of…
Continue Reading SEC Issues Fines for Pay-to-Play Violations That Predate Its Pay-to-Play Rule

A major spending bill posted late last night by Congressional leaders contains provisions shooting down two key initiatives of the campaign finance reform community. 

Stymied by a Federal Election Commission that has increasingly struggled to find consensus, campaign finance activists in recent years have turned their attention to other federal …
Continue Reading Congressional Spending Bill Shuts Down Key Goals of Campaign Finance Reform Community

In a rare move, the Securities & Exchange Commission has assessed penalties against a political intelligence firm for failing to adopt adequate policies to prevent the flow of inside governmental information to the firm’s clients.  The enforcement action is particularly noteworthy because all the factual allegations took place in 2010, …
Continue Reading SEC Fines Should Prompt Firms Engaged in Political Intelligence To Revisit Insider Trading Policies

Yesterday’s D.C. Circuit opinion upholding the SEC’s burdensome “pay-to-play” rule on procedural grounds is bad news for those questioning the rule’s constitutionality.  Nevertheless, the rule is still far from invincible.

The SEC pay-to-play rule, among other things, effectively prohibits investment firm executives from making certain political contributions to state and…
Continue Reading What’s Next for the SEC Pay-to-Play Rule Challenge?

The Wagner case, decided today by the D.C. Circuit, is important because of its analysis of the constitutionality of federal campaign contribution restrictions and, by extension, of pay-to-play laws generally. Covington has been monitoring this case since the district court decision in 2012, to the argument before the D.C. Circuit…
Continue Reading Highlights from Wagner; D.C. Circuit Upholds Contributions Restrictions But Limits Ruling

When the history of the Securities & Exchange Commission’s pay-to-play rule is written, 2014 could be the inflection point.  Developments this year suggest two dramatically different paths for the rule in the years to come: either the rule will unravel from court challenges or it will become an increasingly prominent…
Continue Reading The SEC Pay-to-Play Rule Year in Review

On November 14, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) issued a notice asking for comment (by December 15) on its proposal to establish three rules designed to restrict pay-to-play practices.  The three rules include a pay-to-play prohibition (Rule 2390), a disclosure requirement (Rule 2271), and a recordkeeping requirement (Rule 4580). …
Continue Reading FINRA Likely to Adopt Pay-to-Play Rule

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