For those involved in SEC, Sarbanes-Oxley, & representing public corporations, this is a very interesting article from the Legal Times….
"The aggressive expansion of white-collar prosecutions to areas regulated by civil enforcement agencies sometimes leads to unintended results — including significant defeats — for prosecutors.
"In two recent cases trial courts ruled that the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission failed to conduct independent investigations. If these decisions are representative of a new trend, the result may impose meaningfully new constraints on white-collar prosecutions.
[snip]
"…two district court opinions, from last year’s HealthSouth criminal case in the Northern District of Alabama (United States v. Scrushy) and from last month in the District of Oregon (United States v. Stringer), imposed significant sanctions on the government because of findings of improper coordination between civil and criminal agencies."