Andrew J. Ceresney, the director of the Enforcement Division at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, will be the keynote speaker at the American Bar Association 2014 Business Law Section Fall Meeting being held Nov. 20-22 at the Ritz-Carlton, Washington, DC.
Ceresney will speak at the section’s Federal Regulation of Securities Committee Luncheon from 12:30-2 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 21, in Salon I on the Ballroom Level. Prior to joining the SEC, Ceresney was a partner of Debevoise & Plimpton LLP in Washington, D.C., where he served as co-chair of the firm’s White Collar Group and focused on representing entities and individuals in white-collar criminal and SEC investigations, complex civil litigation and internal corporate investigations. He previously served as deputy chief appellate attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, where he was a member of the Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force and the Major Crimes Unit.
The three-day event will feature more than a dozen programs, including a dialogue with Keith F. Higgins, director of the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance; and such topics as Insider Trading: Your Firm, Your Funds, Your Worries; Small Client, Big Problems: Identifying Potential Criminal Issues and Preventing Them from Becoming Criminal Prosecutions.
Program highlights include:
Small Client, Big Problems: Identifying Potential Criminal Issues and Preventing Them from Becoming Criminal Prosecutions — Small businesses routinely — but often unknowingly — face criminal issues. This program will provide basic guidance to non-specialist inside and outside counsel on the operation of the modern white-collar criminal justice system and the special challenges they face when representing underfunded and unsophisticated clients who don’t appreciate the operation of this system.
The SEC’s Disclosure Effectiveness Initiative: ABA Federal Regulation of Securities Committee’s and Other Private Sector Proposals — This program will discuss the ideas set forth by the ABA Federal Regulation of Securities Committee and Law and Accounting Committee, which jointly created a new Disclosure Effectiveness Working Group, as well as ideas presented by other private sector groups on how the SEC can or should update and improve the quality of its disclosure requirements and EDGAR (Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis and Retrieval system) in order to facilitate informed investor decision-making and unnecessary compliance burdens for public companies.
Issuers, Broker-Dealers, Investment Advisers and Funds (and Regulators) Embrace Social Media: “Like” It or Not (or, To Tweet or Not to Tweet: That is the Question) — As the popularity of social media among investors grows, issuers, broker-dealers, investment advisers and investment funds are developing social media communication strategies while regulators strive to adjust regulations to keep pace with technological change. This panel will explore new challenges faced by the regulators and the regulated with respect to the fast-evolving world of social media.
Hot Corporate Governance Issues Facing General Counsel — This program will provide an overview of corporate governance issues facing General Counsel, including: shareholder activism; cybersecurity; executive compensation; the impact of proxy advisory firms; director tenure and qualifications; exclusive forum by-laws; enterprise-wide risk management; compliance; and government enforcement and investigations. Panelists will discuss the key role General Counsel play in developing and implementing strategies to address these issues.
A complete agenda can be found online.
