Insights

Washington – August 15, 2024: The 2025 edition of The Best Lawyers in America® has recognized 42 Crowell & Moring lawyers as "Best Lawyers" and 29 lawyers as “Ones to Watch.”

On Wednesday the SEC adopted amendments to the “Names Rule” that are meant to promote “truth in advertising” according to SEC Chair Gary Gensler. Specifically, the amendments require funds with names that reference a thematic investment focus (such as incorporation of Environmental, Social, and Governance (“ESG”) factors), or that suggest an investment portfolio with certain characteristics (such as “growth” or “value”) to invest at least 80% of the value of their assets in those named focus areas.

On May 11, 2023, the Supreme Court issued two opinions limiting the reach of the federal fraud statutes and eliminating often-used theories from the government’s arsenal.

On January 17, 2023, Kenneth A. Polite, Jr, Assistant Attorney General for the Department of Justice (DOJ)’s Criminal Division, delivered a speech at Georgetown Law School announcing the first significant changes to the Criminal Division’s Corporate Enforcement Policy (“CEP”) since 2017. The changes answer the call of Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco and provide companies with new and concrete incentives to self-disclose wrongdoing and meaningfully cooperate with DOJ investigations. Most notably, DOJ is offering both a new path to avoid prosecution, and, in cases where a criminal resolution is warranted, the opportunity to obtain as much as 75% off the low end of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines fine range. The revisions also include incentives for companies that do not voluntarily self-disclose, but still fully cooperate and remediate—even these companies can obtain a 50% reduction in fines.

We hope you can join us for lunch in Miami during the 38th National Institute on White Collar Crime.

The White Collar Crime Conference will have a full program that includes several “ethics” and “skills” sessions to satisfy the CLE requirements of all state bars. The much-acclaimed panels of United States District Judges, general counsel of leading corporations, and of the Directors of Enforcement of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, as well as senior representatives of the Department of Justice Criminal Division will all return. In addition, on Friday morning, distinguished speakers will explore the ethical issues and challenges that have confronted prosecutors and defense counsel in recent high-profile white collar crime cases.

On October 12-13, Crowell is proud to sponsor ACI's first Forum on Digital Assets Compliance: AML, Sanctions & Fraud. Carlton Greene, chair of Crowell's Financial Services practice, will be moderating an in-house executive roundtable discussing Perspectives on Managing the Latest Emerging Opportunities and Risks Confronting the Crypto Industry. Key discussion areas for the panel will include:

Recent pronouncements from top Department of Justice (“DOJ”) officials, and corresponding updates to the DOJ’s corporate criminal enforcement policies, highlight the Department’s focus on incentivizing voluntary disclosures and the increasingly critical role that a robust compliance program must play in companies today.  Our panel discussion with seasoned Crowell White Collar & Regulatory Enforcement, Investigations, and Labor and Employment attorneys will provide background and context to the updated policies, break down the new developments, and discuss actionable, practical steps that companies can take now to ensure alignment with the updated DOJ guidance—particularly when it comes to calibrating corporate compliance programs to incentivize good behavior and avoid misconduct. 

Please join NAWL's IP and Technology Affinity Group for a primer on all things crypto, its current state and future potential, legal and regulatory risks, and what businesses are worried about right now.

The session will cover the preservation of the attorney client privilege during internal investigations and will examine both the basics of privilege law and best practices for preserving it in the US, UK and EU. Attendees will find this program very beneficial for members of the compliance, internal audit, and legal functions.