The SEC Announces Covid-19 Steering Committee

The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) has been inundated with over 4,000 tips and complaints ever since the Covid-19 Pandemic began in mid-March, a 35% increase over the same period a year ago.  As a result, the SEC’s Division of Enforcement recently announced the creation of a Covid-19 Steering Committee mandated to “proactively identify and monitor areas of potential misconduct, ensure appropriate allocation of our resources, avoid duplication of efforts, coordinate responses as appropriate with other state and federal agencies, and ensure consistency in the manner in which the women and men of the Division address coronavirus-related matters.”  On May 12, Steven Peikin, the Co-Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement, provided more details about this Steering Committee.  He explained that the Committee was specifically focused on identifying key areas of potential market and investor risk—including microcap fraud, market manipulation, and “disclosures, impairments, or valuations that may attempt to disguise previously undisclosed problems or weaknesses as coronavirus-related.”  Peikin also assured investors that the Committee was communicating with state securities regulators, other federal agencies, and exchanges to coordinate parallel efforts