Insider Trading Enforcement - Key SEC Cases and Prosecutions

Steven M. Malina, a former Senior Attorney in the SEC’s enforcement branch, focuses his practice on a variety of litigation and regulatory matters with representations of financial services industry clients, hedge fund matters, and securities and general commercial litigation. He represents officers, directors, broker-dealers, investment advisors, commercial banks, investment banks, investment management firms, and public issuers in investigations and disciplinary proceedings initiated by the SEC, CFTC, FINRA, FDIC, NYSE, CBOE, CME, and state regulators. In addition, Steve represents clients in related investor class-action, derivative, and other litigation and arbitration. He has also conducted internal investigations on behalf of publicly traded companies and represented committees and executive officers in internal investigations. Steve has represented brokerage firms and their management in customer-initiated cases, and injunction and arbitration proceedings.
Prior to entering private practice, Steve served as First Vice President and Deputy Regional Counsel for a large financial corporation and was a Senior Attorney in the Branch of Enforcement of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Kevin is a technology consultant with a specialization in cybersecurity. He has worked with a variety of clients to address IT issues in both the public and private sectors. Typical engagements include his evaluating an organization’s IT infrastructure and operation, validating management’s investment approach, and devising IT strategies to accelerate growth in the digital era. In addition to evaluating enterprise IT deployments, Kevin has extensive expertise in hands-on application development, architecture design, secure coding practices, and applied cryptography. Previously, he was a security specialist at IBM, where he supported the US Departments of Defense (DoD) and Homeland Security. Kevin has a master’s degree in technology management from Georgetown University. He has lectured at events held by the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association and the Center for Professional Education on the topics of security, blockchain, and cryptocurrencies.

Rebecca Fike is an experienced litigator focused on SEC and white collar defense and government and internal investigations. As Senior Counsel in the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Enforcement for nearly 10 years, Rebecca conducted all aspects of more than 60 investigations, including three SEC “Top 5” national priority investigations. She often conducted parallel investigations with the Department of Justice and other civil and criminal agencies. The SEC recognized her efforts with an Annual Enforcement Director’s Award for excellence in investigative work, as well as the inaugural Performance Incentive Bonus award for demonstrating an “extraordinary and rare level of performance that significantly surpasses the requirements of the job.”
Rebecca brings clients a current, insider’s perspective on how to best guide them through the reality of today’s SEC investigations. While at the SEC, she brought six successful enforcement recommendations under the new administration and SEC Chairman, giving her a fresh view on the evolving priorities and policies of SEC Commissioners. With this experience, Rebecca is uniquely positioned to work productively with SEC staff while vigorously protecting her clients’ interests.
Since reentering private practice, Rebecca has successfully represented public and private company clients in SEC matters initiated by the Division of Enforcement and Division of Examinations. Opposite the Division of Enforcement, she has effectively navigated her clients through investigations to case closures, successful Wells notice responses, and favorable settlements. Rebecca has conducted investigations on behalf of audit committees or other special committees into whistleblower allegations or other internal reports with potential SEC implications. She is often retained to advise clients on enforcement risks relating to various situations and how to take proactive measures to preclude an enforcement investigation.
Rebecca is a frequent speaker and writer on SEC topics. She was named a Top Author in White Collar Defense in 2023 by JD Supra and regularly appears on panels at industry and legal conferences, webcasts, and client events. She also is co-lead of the firm’s Women’s Initiative for the Washington, DC office.

As a former Senior Counsel in the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) Enforcement Division, Danette Edwards offers clients deep insight into antifraud and other securities laws, and is a trusted resource for navigating investigations and enforcement matters.
During her time with the SEC, Danette helped the agency obtain judgments ordering companies and individuals to pay more than $595 million to investors and the U.S. Treasury. She received multiple awards from the Director of the SEC's Enforcement Division for her work on investigations and litigation, and a trio of cases that she recently prosecuted were included in a select group of matters highlighted in the SEC Enforcement Division's 2020 Annual Report to Congress.
Having recently rejoined the private sector after more than a decade on the front lines of the SEC's enforcement efforts, Danette offers sound guidance to companies and individuals on SEC-related matters of all types, including suspected financial and disclosure fraud; alleged misconduct by auditors, broker-dealers, and investment advisors; and violations in areas of new interest to the SEC. Her practice includes advising clients involved in SEC Enforcement Division investigations and litigation, with a related focus on internal, special committee and non-SEC government and regulatory investigations; securities class action defense; and complex economic litigation. Danette draws on her significant SEC experience in examining witnesses and analyzing complicated data sets, and she uses her former regulator mindset to identify potential risks and promising theories and defenses so that she can make sound recommendations to clients in high-stakes matters.
Danette's practice also includes a cross-disciplinary compliance and risk management component that is critical for public companies as well as private sector and nonprofit clients. Danette advises on records and information management (RIM) best practices; cybersecurity; and environmental, social and governance (ESG) questions concerning environmentally sustainable finance, and diversity and inclusion as components of social governance.
Danette frequently writes and presents on topics such as enforcement risks related to SEC rulemaking, significant SEC enforcement actions and other cases involving challenges to core aspects of the SEC's enforcement program.
Prior to joining the SEC, Danette was a white collar and commercial litigator at a national law firm, where she defended market participants and other players in public and private actions, and helped to establish the firm's records management practice. She also worked for the Honorable Catherine C. Blake, Senior District Judge for the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland.

Rachael Clarke is Senior Counsel at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Ms. Clarke is a member of the Division of Enforcement's Market Abuse Unit, which investigates and prosecutes large-scale insider trading networks and other abusive market practices.