NLRB General Counsel Issues Memo on Non-competes Violating the National Labor Relations Act (NLRB Release)
https://www.nlrb.gov/news-outreach/news-story/nlrb-general-counsel-issues-memo-on-non-competes-violating-the-national 
NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo sent a Memo to all Regional Directors, Officers-in-Charge, and Resident Officers, setting forth her view that the proffer, maintenance, and enforcement non-compete provisions in employment contracts and severance agreements violate the National Labor Relations Act except in limited circumstances.
https://apps.nlrb.gov/link/document.aspx/09031d4583a87168 As set forth in part in the NLRB Release:

The memo explains that overbroad non-compete agreements are unlawful because they chill employees from exercising their rights under Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act, which protects employees’ rights to take collective action to improve their working conditions. Specifically, these agreements interfere with employees ability to: 1. concertedly threaten to resign to secure better working conditions; 2. carry out concerted threats to resign or otherwise concertedly resign to secure improved working conditions; 3. concertedly seek or accept employment with a local competitor to obtain better working conditions; 4. solicit their co-workers to go work for a local competitor as part of a broader course of protected concerted activity; 5. seek employment, at least in part, to specifically engage in protected activity, including union organizing, with other workers at an employer’s workplace. 

Former Wells Fargo Senior Executive Carrie Tolstedt Agrees to Settle SEC Fraud Charges for Misleading Investors About Abusive Sales Practices to Inflate a Key Performance Metric (SEC Release)
https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2023-99
Without admitting or denying the allegations in an SEC Complaint
https://www.sec.gov/files/litigation/complaints/2023/comp-pr2023-99.pdf, the former head of Wells Fargo & Co.’s Community Bank, Carrie L. Tolstedt agreed to a Final Judgment permanently enjoining her from violating, or aiding and abetting violations of, the antifraud and other provisions of the federal securities laws and imposing a permanent officer-and-director bar. In addition to a $3 million civil penalty, Tolstedt agreed to pay disgorgement of $1,459,076 plus prejudgment interest of $447,874. The SEC will combine this money with $500 million paid by Wells Fargo and the $2.5 million penalty paid by Stumpf in previous settlements and distribute the sum to harmed investors. Previously, the SEC settled related charges against Wells Fargo and its former CEO and Chairman, John Stumpf. As alleged in part in the SEC Release:

[F]rom mid-2014 through mid-2016, Tolstedt publicly described and endorsed Wells Fargo’s “cross-sell metric” as a means of measuring Wells Fargo’s financial success despite the fact that this metric was inflated by accounts and services that were unused, unneeded, or unauthorized. The complaint further alleges that Tolstedt knew the cross-sell metric did not accurately track accounts or products that customers needed or used, since she was aware of misconduct at the Community Bank that led to bankers pushing products on customers that they did not need or want, including the unauthorized opening of accounts. The complaint alleges that Tolstedt made misleading public statements to investors at Wells Fargo’s investor conferences in 2014 and 2016, and signed misleading sub-certifications as to the accuracy of Wells Fargo’s public disclosures when she knew or was reckless in not knowing that statements in those disclosures regarding Wells Fargo’s cross-sell metric were materially false and misleading.

SEC Settles IIIicit Trading Case Against Two Former Registered Representatives (SEC Release)
https://www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/2023/lr25738.htm
In the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York Final Judgments were entered against Joshua W. Turney and Hector Perez (former registered representatives at New York broker-dealer Global Arena Capital Corp.). As alleged in part in the SEC Release:

[F]rom April through June 2015, defendants Jonah Engler, Barbara Desiderio, Turney, and Perez fraudulently schemed to conduct large-scale trading in certain Global Arena customer accounts without receiving authorization from those customers. The defendants' illicit trading allegedly took place in over 360 customer accounts, generated over $2.4 million in unlawful profits for Global Arena and ill-gotten gains for the defendants, and resulted in over $4 million in net losses for their customers. The SEC's complaint charged Turney and Perez with violating Section 17(a)(1) and (3) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rules 10b-5(a) and (c) thereunder.

Turney and Perez were charged criminally by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York, and each pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud. Turney was sentenced to two years' imprisonment followed by two years' supervised release, ordered to pay $5,295,868.12 in restitution, jointly and severally with Perez, and to forfeit $281,914. Perez was sentenced to two years' probation, ordered to pay $5,295,868.12 in restitution, jointly and severally with Turney, and to forfeit $137,275.

Turney and Perez consented to the entry of separate final judgments in the SEC action. Turney was ordered to pay disgorgement of $347,019.13 and prejudgment interest of $81,297.47. Perez was ordered to pay disgorgement of $137,275.26 and prejudgment interest of $32,159.94. The payments were deemed satisfied by the restitution order for Turney and the restitution and forfeiture orders for Perez, in the respective parallel criminal proceedings.

The Court in the SEC action previously entered partial consent judgments against Turney and Perez, permanently enjoining each of them from violating the Securities Act and Exchange Act antifraud provisions. For further information, see Litigation Release No. 24874 (Aug. 25, 2020). The SEC also recently concluded its litigation against Engler and Desiderio.

SEC Charges RTW Investments for Failing to Disclose SPAC-Related Conflicts of Interest (SEC Release)
https://www.sec.gov/enforce/34-97622-s
Without admitting or denying the findingsan SEC Order
https://www.sec.gov/litigation/admin/2023/34-97622.pdf that the firm violated the antifraud and compliance provisions of Sections 206(2) and 206(4) of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 and Rule 206(4)-7 thereunder, and violated and/or caused violations of the beneficial ownership reporting provisions of Section 13(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rules 13d-1 and 13d-2 thereunder, RTW Investments, LP agreed to a Cease-and-Desist Order, a Censure, and a $1.4 million civil penalty. As alleged in part in the SEC Release [Ed: special purpose acquisition companies ("SPACs") :

[RTW] formed multiple SPACs whose sponsors were owned both by RTW personnel and by private funds that RTW advised. The RTW personnel were entitled to a portion of the compensation the SPAC sponsors received upon completion of the SPACs' business combinations. The order finds that RTW invested assets of private funds it advised in certain transactions that helped complete the SPACs' business combinations and did not timely disclose these conflicts. In addition, the order finds that RTW failed to timely file accurate reports on Schedule 13G concerning the beneficial ownership of the common stock of a public company formed as a result of a SPAC business combination.

Former Coinbase Manager and His Brother Agree to Settle Insider Trading Charges Relating to Crypto Asset Securities (SEC Release)
https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2023-98
In the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington, former Coinbase product manager Ishan Wahi and his brother, Nikhil Wahi entered into Final Consent Judgments that permanently enjoin them from violating Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. In the criminal action, Ishan and Nikhil Wahi pled guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Ishan Wahi was sentenced to 24 months in prison and ordered to forfeit 10.97 ether and 9,440 Tether, and Nikhil was sentenced to 10 months in prison and ordered to forfeit $892,500. As alleged in part in the SEC Release:

[W]hile employed at Coinbase, Ishan Wahi helped to coordinate the platform’s public listing announcements that included what crypto assets would be made available for trading. According to the complaint, Coinbase treated such information as confidential and warned its employees not to trade on the basis of, or tip others with, that information. However, from at least June 2021 to April 2022, in breach of his duties, Ishan repeatedly tipped the timing and content of upcoming listing announcements to his brother, Nikhil Wahi, and his friend, Sameer Ramani. Ahead of those announcements, which usually resulted in an increase in the assets’ prices, Nikhil Wahi and Ramani allegedly purchased at least 25 crypto assets, at least nine of which were securities, and then typically sold them shortly after the announcements for a profit. The Wahi brothers agreed, as part of the settlement, not to deny the SEC’s allegations.