The first full panel of the conference was entitled “Enforcement Views,” but the panel quickly pointed out a more appropriate title might have been “The Interplay between Enforcement, Investigation, and Examinations.”  The panel also discussed the SEC’s renewed focus on offering non-prosecution agreements, cooperation agreements, and the utilization of the Dodd-Frank provisions that permit awards to whistleblowers.  Members of the panel included Carlo DiFlorio, Director, Office of Compliance, Inspections, and Examinations, SEC; Robert Khuzami, Director, Division of Enforcement, SEC; and John Walsh, United States Attorney, District of Colorado.   

The panel focused on the regulation of residential mortgage backed securities, the cooperative efforts between the SEC and U.S. Attorney’s offices across the nation, and the whistleblower provisions of Dodd-Frank.  Specifically, the panel highlighted the creation of a working group focused on combining the resources of the SEC and DOJ to promote efficiency and reduce duplicative enforcement between the two.  Also, Mr. Khuzami highlighted the SEC’s more proactive role in enforcement by focusing on early detection of violations of the securities laws.  The panel also discussed the SEC’s renewed focus on offering non-prosecution agreements, cooperation agreement, as well as the utilization of the Dodd-Frank provisions that permit awards to whistleblowers.  Finally, the panel spoke of the future enforcement goals of the SEC and DOJ including insider trading, Ponzi schemes, and structured products such as credit default swaps and residential mortgage backed securities.