The SEC and e-Discovery

http://ow.ly/9vr9L

An article by Wallis Hampton, Elizabeth Russo, and Canaan Himmelbaum posted on the DiscoveryResources.org website.

This article looks at the SEC and the way that they enforce eDiscovery production requests during investigations.

The article states, "Beginning with its 2001 Seaboard Report, the SEC has heavily emphasized the importance of cooperation in investigations while simultaneously underscoring the perils of being perceived as uncooperative. In 2004, Stephen Cutler, the SEC’s Director of Enforcement at the time, noted that the SEC “seeks to recognize, in its charging and sanctioning decisions (and in its decisions not to charge and not to sanction), efforts by companies to police themselves, report problems to the government and establish a solid culture of compliance.” More recently, the SEC has begun utilizing cooperation credits and deferred prosecution agreements as incentives, both of which historically have been limited to criminal prosecutions. If these carrots aren’t sufficient, the SEC also wields a number of powerful sticks, including the threat of obstruction charges and the risk of SEC action against attorneys themselves."  Foonotes are provided throughout the article, and certain specific cases are referenced as well, as examples.

The article goes on to discuss certain SEC requirements, and provides information on several topics:

• Review Platform. 
• Scanned Collections. 
• Metadata. 
• Custodians. 
• Preservation of ESI. 
• Accounting Workpapers.