Rule 10b5-1

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In what the agency says is the first prosecution of its type, the U.S. Department of Justice has brought criminal charges against Terren Peizer, the Executive Chairman of the healthcare company Ontrak, alleging that the executive improperly used Rule 10b5-1 trading plans to sell shares in the company ahead of the company’s disclosure of bad news. The SEC has separately brought a civil enforcement action against Peizer based on the same allegations. The government alleges that Peizer set up the plans while aware of the undisclosed bad news and that his stock sales allowed him to avoid more than $12.7 million in losses.

 A copy of the U.S. Department of Justice’s March 1, 2023 press release about Peizer’s prosecution can be found here, and the February 24, 2023 grand jury indictment of Peizer can be found here. The SEC’s March 1, 2023, press release can be found here, and its complaint against Peizer can be found here.Continue Reading First-Ever Criminal Action Charges Exec with Misuse of Rule10b5-1 Trading Plans

As I noted at the time, earlier this year SEC Chair Gary Gensler spoke publicly about the need for revisions to Rule 10b5-1, the regulatory provision that allows corporate executives, subject to certain requirements, to trade in their holdings of their companies’ securities. Rule 10b5-1 has long been criticized because of perceived abuses. On December 15, 2021, the SEC released proposed revisions to the Rule. Among other things, the proposed revisions strengthen the requirements to access the affirmative defenses afforded under the Rule, and also enhance disclosure requirements for companies whose executives enter into trading plans pursuant to the Rule. The proposed changes are subject to a 45-day comment period after the proposed amendments are published in the Federal Register.
Continue Reading SEC Proposes Amendments to Rule 10b5-1 Trading Plan Provisions

Since it was first instituted nearly 21 years ago, SEC Rule 10b5-1 has provided corporate executives with a way to trade in their company’s securities while avoiding potential liability under the federal securities laws. However, the Rule has been dogged by controversy and questions of potential abuse have been raised for years. Now, in remarks published earlier this week on the Wall Street Journal (here), SEC Chair Gary Gensler has said that the SEC is drafting a proposal to revise the Rule’s requirements to target some of the perceived abuses. The Cooley law firm’s PubCo blog has a detailed account of Gensler’s remarks in a June 8, 2021 post (here).
Continue Reading SEC to Revise Rule 10b5-1 Trading Plan Requirements

Since it first enacted the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act in 2012, Congress has continued to modify the original JOBS Act as part of an ongoing effort to try to boost small businesses and business startups. For example, in 2015, Congress acted to expand a number of the JOBS Act’s provisions. On July 17, 2018, the U.S. House of Representatives passed what has been referred to as the JOBS Act 3.0. By a vote of 406-4, the House passed the JOBS and Investor Confidence Act of 2018, which is designed to further encourage capital formation and market access for small business enterprises. The House Financial Services Committee’s July 17, 2018 statement about the legislation can be found here.
Continue Reading House Passes JOBS Act 3.0

Seventeen years ago this month, the SEC instituted Rule 10b5-1 to permit company insiders – who often hold a significant portion of their wealth in company stock – to sell their shares without incurring liability under the federal securities laws. The Rule permits insiders who have traded in company shares to rebut the inference of scienter by showing that the trades were pre-scheduled and not suspicious. Over time, questions have been raised about the ways that some company executives have tried to use the plans. As discussed in an August 10, 2017 memo by the Simpson Thacher law firm on the CLS Blue Sky Blog entitled “Combatting Securities Fraud with 10b5-1 Trading Plans” (here), “sales made under 10b5-1 plans can substantially assist a company in getting such a claim dismissed by helping to rebut the inference of scienter that normally results when plaintiffs present evidence of insider stock sales during the class period.”

However, as discussed further below, while the plans can provide a substantial defensive boost, there are a number of steps companies should take in order to improve the likelihood that the existence of the plan will provide the intended protection.
Continue Reading Rule 10b5-1 and the Defense of Securities Fraud Claims

As reflected in the most recent dismissal motion rulings in the Countrywide subprime securities lawsuit, the proper use of a Rule 10b5-1 trading plan can provide a substantial defense to allegations of securities law violations. In her April 6, 2009 opinion (here), Central District of California Mariana Pfaelzer dismissed the insider trading allegations…

Most of the focus on Rule 10b5-1 plans lately has been on possible abuses (refer, for example here). Indeed, one of the reasons the court cited in the dismissal motion denial in the Countrywide derivative lawsuit pending in California was concern about Angelo Mozillo’s possible manipulation of his 10b5-1 plan (refer here). 

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As a result of recent academic research (refer here and here) and other recent developments, Rule 10b5-1 trading plans have attracted critical attention, including SEC scrutiny (refer here). Allegations of alleged misuse of Rule 10b5-1 trading plans have even made their way into shareholder litigation. For example, allegations of Andrew Mozillo’s alleged misuse…

In October 2000, the SEC promulgated Rule 10b5-1 to provide company insiders with a way to trade their shares in company stock without incurring securities law liability, through the pre-trading adoption of a written trading plan. Despite the Rule’s protective purpose, concerns have arisen more recently about Rule 10b5-1 plan abuses, as I noted in…