Dickinson Wright PLLC is pleased to announce that Jacob Frenkel
(Member, Chair of Government Investigations and Securities
Enforcement Practice) will be testifying in front of the United
States House of Representative's Financial Services
Committee's Subcommittee on Investor Protection,
Entrepreneurship and Capital Markets at 12 p.m. on Thursday, Sept.
17, 2020.
"I am honored to have received this invitation to testify
before the Subcommittee and look forward to addressing capital
markets activity and corporate actions impacting investor
confidence and regulatory considerations relating to the COVID-19
pandemic," Frenkel said. "Our markets and investors place
a premium on transparency and an expectation of legal and ethical
compliance. Investor protection and market integrity are
central to public trust and confidence in our markets, and
important to maintaining a strong economy during these turbulent
times. I thank the Committee and the Subcommittee for giving me
this unique opportunity to share my experience and perspective --
and to contribute substantively to its assessment of new
legislation."
Mr. Frenkel will appear at a virtual hearing on "Insider
Trading and Stock Option Grants: An Examination of Corporate
Integrity in the Covid-19 Pandemic." He will appear alongside
Jill Fisch, distinguished professor of business law and co-director
of the Institute of Law and Economics at the University of
Pennsylvania Law School, and Rick Claypool, research director for
the President's office of Public Citizen, a nonprofit consumer
advocacy organization.
Mr. Frenkel brings to the Subcommittee hearing more than 32 years
of experience with the issues about which the United States
Congress has invited his input. Mr. Frenkel served with the
SEC's Division of Enforcement for 9 ½ years, was a
federal criminal prosecutor of public corruption and securities for
3 ½ years, and has advised corporations and individuals in
SEC, DOJ, PCAOB and FINRA investigations for more than 20 years. He
is a vice president and a director of the International Association
of Independent Corporate Monitors, and continues to serve as
outside independent counsel to corporate monitors. Many of the
issues before the Subcommittee have been the subject of Mr.
Frenkel's commentary for CNBC, the Washington Post, ABC News
Investigations and ABC News' Start Here Podcast, as well as his
blog at Forbes.com.
The Subcommittee will discuss investor protection and overall
market integrity, including issues related to insider trading,
"spring loading," executive compensation schemes
(including stock options), and profiteering by certain
pharmaceutical companies. The Subcommittee's hearing is in
connection with the following legislation:
- H.R. 624, the "Promoting Transparent Standards for Corporate Insiders Act."
- H.R. 2534, the "Insider Trading Prohibition Act of 2019."
- H.R. 4335, the "8-K Trading Gap Act of 2019."
- H.R. ____, To amend the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to prohibit issuers from granting stock options if the grantor or recipient are in possession of certain nonpublic information, and for other purposes.
To learn more about the Subcommittee hearing or to watch the
virtual hearing, please click here.
Dickinson Wright's Government Investigations and Securities
Enforcement practice encompasses all investigations, knowledgeably
spanning securities enforcement (SEC, FINRA, PCAOB and states),
white-collar (DOJ and state investigations, including grand jury
investigations, and prosecutions), bribery and corruption (FCPA,
FPOA (Canada), UK Bribery Act), and government contracts. We have
represented individuals and companies in government investigations
and civil and criminal litigation involving the SEC, FINRA, the
DOJ, other regulatory and criminal authorities, and the World Bank.
To learn more about Dickinson Wright's Government
Investigations and Securities Enforcement practice, please click here.
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