Director Of Enforcement Of SEC Reiterates Staff’s Intention To Enforce Reg. FD
In a recent speech, Richard H. Walker, Director of the Division of Enforcement of the SEC (the "Staff") reiterated the Staff’s intention to enforce Regulation FD (" Reg. FD"). According to Mr. Walker, the Staff is particularly likely to take enforcement action if it discovers a clear- cut violation suggesting disregard of Reg. FD. He noted that conduct such as (a) top corporate officials calling multiple analysts to review prior announcements, resulting in the analysts lowering their earnings estimates, (b) senior officers making serial calls to analysts to talk them down from their earlier assumptions, and (c) senior officials confirming, late in the quarter, to a single analyst, guidance given months earlier when market conditions were very different, "almost certainly will trigger an enforcement inquiry." Mr. Walker added that closed or private sessions that follow public presentations or conference
