In the following guest post, Sarah Abrams reviews the SEC’s recent updates to its Enforcement Manual and considers the directors’ and officers’ liability implications. My thanks to Sarah for allowing me to publish her article as a guest post on this site. Here is Sarah’s article. Continue Reading Guest Post: The SEC Updates its Enforcement Manual
While there have been dramatic developments in recent days related to the Trump administration’s tariff-policies – including the U.S. Supreme Court striking down the administration’s IEEPA tariffs and the Trump administration announcement of new across-the-board Section 122 tariffs – the uncertainty companies have faced related to the tariffs continues, and indeed may even have been exacerbated. A new securities suit filed earlier this week against Lakeland Industries, a company whose operations and financial results were impaired by “tariff headwinds,” illustrates how the continuing tariff uncertainty may translate into corporate and securities litigation in the weeks and months ahead. A copy of the February 23, 2026, Lakeland Industries complaint can be found here.Continue Reading Protective Clothing Company Hit with Tariff-Related Securities Suit
Following the Supreme Court’s recent decision striking down President Trump’s IEEPA tariffs, many companies will now have to consider whether and how they might seek a refund. Indeed, the first of what undoubtedy will be many refund actions has already been filed. In the following guest post, Sarah Abrams examines the refund-related questions corporate executives now face, and considers the D&O risks involved. My thanks to Sarah for allowing me to publish her article as a guest post on this site. Here is Sarah’s article.Continue Reading Guest Post: Tariff Whiplash, Refund Strategy, and D&O Risk
Last Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its much-anticipated ruling in the case challenging the tariffs President Trump imposed in reliance on the International Economic Emergency Powers Act (IEEPA). By a 6-3 majority, the Court ruled in Learning Resources v. Trump that the IEEPA does not authorize the President to impose tariffs. However, even though the Court has now ruled, questions and uncertainty remain. As discussed below, the continuing questions have important implications for companies’ tariff-related D&O risk. The Court’s February 20, 2026 opinion can be found here.Continue Reading What Does the Supreme Court’s Tariffs Decision Mean?
Recent shifts in regulatory scrutiny, proxy-advisor guidelines, and institutional-investor practices are reshaping how boards, investors, and insurers navigate the governance risks associated with proxy advisor practices. These developments take on particular significance as companies head into the 2026 proxy season. In the following guest post, Sarah Abrams takes a look at these proxy advisory-related practices developments and considers their significance. My thanks to Sarah for allowing me to publish her article as a guest post on this site. Here is Sarah’s article.Continue Reading Guest Post: Proxy Power in Flux: Governance, Politics, and D&O Risk
There is no doubt that the SEC under current Chair Paul Atkins has taken a different enforcement approach than under the prior administration. The statistics (at least those through the end of the last fiscal year) show a notable decrease in the number of SEC enforcement actions under the Trump administration. As questions arise about the current administration’s enforcement approach, including whether the agency’s approach might embolden would-be wrongdoers, one particular question has been with respect to the Director of the agency’s Enforcement Division. Observers have asked whether the division director, Margaret “Meg” Ryan, who was nominated to her position last August, is deliberately leading the division in a hands-off approach.Continue Reading SEC Enforcement Division Director Assures of Continued Vigilance
In recent months, the SEC’s position with respect to AI regulation and enforcement has emerged, with important implications for reporting companies. In the following guest post, Mayme Donohue, a partner in the Hunton Andrews Kurth law firm takes a detailed look at the SEC’s emerging approach and provides specific pointers for reporting companies’ AI-related disclosures. I would like to thank Mayme for allowing me to publish her article as a guest post on this site. Here is Mayme’s article.Continue Reading Guest Post: AI, the SEC, and the 2026 Reporting Season
It is no secret that the SEC under the Trump Administration is taking a very different approach to cryptocurrency than the agency did under the Biden Administration. Indeed, a detailed December 2025 New York Times article (here) made it clear – if there were any doubt — that the administration’s more restrained approach to crypto starts at the very top. But what does the more restrained crypto approach mean in practical terms? A January 22, 2026, report from Cornerstone Research, which can be found here, spells out in detail what it means, both in terms of reduced numbers of crypto-related enforcement actions and in diminished crypto-related recoveries.Continue Reading SEC: Less Crypto Enforcement, Lower Crypto Recoveries
The Trump Administration has already shown that it intends to use the False Claims Act (FCA) as one of the primary tools in its arsenal to enforce its policy priorities. For example, as discussed in prior posts on this site (most recently here), the administration is actively using the FCA to enforce its tariff policies. In the latest demonstration that the FCA may now be the administration’s preferred enforcement tool, the administration appears to be actively gearing up to use the FCA as a primary weapon in its campaign against “illegal DEI,” in an apparent use of the FCA commentators agree would be, at a minimum, “novel.” The administration’s use of the FCA for these purposes could pose significant challenges for companies — and their insurers.Continue Reading The Trump Administration Use of the False Claims Act in Anti-DEI Campaign
The Trump administration has already demonstrated that it intends to actively pursue tariff enforcement, as discussed in prior posts on this site (most recently here). One of the enforcement tools the administration is using is the False Claims Act. In the following post, Sarah Abrams, Head of Claims Baleen Specialty, a division of Bowhead Specialty, takes a look at the ways the administration is using the False Claims Act as an enforcement tool, in the context of two recent enforcement actions. My thanks to Sarah for allowing me to publish her article as a guest post on this site. Here is Sarah’s article.Continue Reading Guest Post: False Claims Act Tariff Enforcement