The Rocky Mountain Securities Conference and Some Enforcement Insights

Loren Reisner, the Deputy Director of Enforcement, sat on the Enforcement panel at the Rocky Mountain Securities Conference.  While he had plenty to say, we want to point out a few interesting remarks.

First, he was asked about the relationship between the SEC and the criminal authorities.  Recall that Mr. Reisner did a term at the US Attorneys Office.  One thing is clear from his comments:  The number of criminal cases is increasing.  He indicated that relations with criminal authorities had never been better.  Intriguingly, he noted that there were 80-90 cases at the Commission that were of “national importance” and that 60% of them had parallel criminal investigations. 

He was also asked if the SEC had any intention of altering the traditional approach of settling cases with the defendants neither admitting nor denying the charges.  He responded by saying that there is “no current plan in any broad and systematic way to change the practice,” although he noted there would always be exceptions.  The comment hinted that there will be an increase in the number of cases where defendants are not allowed to rely on the "neither admit nor deny" standard but that it will not be systematically abandoned.