Former SEC Enforcement Lawyer Looks Back and Forward

Federal regulators will focus more resources on special purpose acquisition companies seeking to go public because the increased frequency of so-called de-SPACing could lead to a jump in improper accounting, financial misstatements and even fraud. That's according to Rebecca Fike, who spent the past 10 years at the SEC’s Fort Worth Regional Office prosecuting violators of accounting and financial fraud, who said cryptocurrency, corporate governance and de-SPACing are “ripe for potential securities issues” to be investigated by the federal agency.

March 24, 2022 Mark Curriden

SEC Issues Draft Climate Change Disclosure Requirements — Updated

The biggest impact, according to legal experts, will be to corporations in the energy industry and those with a significant amount of greenhouse emissions. Experts from V&E, Winstead, Porter Hedges, Winston & Strawn, Bradley and Sidley share their insight and analysis on the new proposed rules.

March 21, 2022 Mark Curriden

Houston Chronicle: SEC to Release New Climate Disclosure Rules

The SEC is expected to create a standardized reporting protocol to provide investors with a clear picture of different industries’ emissions and their progress in adapting their business to a warming planet, according to observers closely tracking the process.

March 21, 2022 James Osborne of the Houston Chronicle

SEC Charges Crosby ISD, CFO, Auditor with Misleading Muni-Bond Investors

For the first time in Texas history, the SEC charged a Houston area public school district and two of its senior officials with fraudulently misleading investors in the school system’s $20 million bond issuance in 2018.

March 16, 2022 Mark Curriden

Crypto Fraudsters Get 50 Months Each in Federal Prison

In Dallas, U.S. District Judge Jane J. Boyle sentences the two owners of Bitqyck to prison and orders them to pay $1.6 million each in federal income taxes.

March 14, 2022 Bruce Tomaso

DBJ: New SEC Proposal Could Impair Private Firms, UT Professor Says

Ken Wiles said the amount of increased regulation the proposal outlines could significantly impact firms, with potentially minimal payoff.

February 21, 2022 Catherine Leffert of the Dallas Business Journal

DBJ: Concealment of Hedge Fund Manager Kyle Bass’ Bashing of UDF Grounds for New Trial, Defense Lawyers Say

Attorneys for UDF argue in new court filings that jurors should have been allowed to hear about a bitter rift pitting United Development Funding and CEO Hollis Greenlaw against Dallas hedge fund manager Kyle Bass.

February 21, 2022 Bill Hethcock of the Dallas Business Journal

DBJ: Latest SEC Proposal Could Be Game-Changer for Private Funds

The proposal would turn compliance for firms on its head in the name of protecting investors and companies that take private capital.

February 14, 2022 Catherine Leffert of the Dallas Business Journal

DBJ: 30K Investors, Banks Bamboozled by UDF in Ponzi-like Scheme, Prosecutors Say

Roughly 30,000 victims nationwide lost money or were misled by the North Texas REIT and the firm’s executives, who were convicted last month of misusing proceeds from investors and financial institutions in a Ponzi-like scheme involving loans to residential housing developers across Texas, prosecutors said.

February 11, 2022 Bill Hethcock of the Dallas Business Journal

The Texas Energy Grid Crisis Didn’t Have to Happen: Will There Be a Repeat?

The Texas deep freeze last year dramatically and graphically illustrates the consequences of the government's failure to address the state's energy needs. But the same is happening in other states and across the globe. The much-needed changes resulting from this past winter won't even be implemented in time for this current winter and, once again, Texans are at the mercy of Mother Nature. This article examines factors that contributed to the Texas electrical grid failure in February 2021 and recommends ways to prepare infrastructure for extreme weather in the era of climate change.

February 8, 2022 Stratton Horres, Karen Bashor & Taylor Buono