Lanny Breuer, assistant attorney general for the DOJ's criminal division, said today that the SEC will no longer necessarily enter into a stay of its enforcement actions when the DOJ is pursuing a parallel related criminal case. According to Reuters, Breuer stated that "[j]ust because there's a civil action ... and a parallel criminal action, the days are gone where the civil action will necessarily be stayed until the criminal action is over."

Stays in SEC matters where there are parallel DOJ inquiries have been issues in several recent high-profile cases, including the Galleon Group case and the Stanford Financial matter. In addition, last week's news that the DOJ has opened a preliminary criminal investigation concerning Goldman Sachs means that the issue could arise in that case, as well.

One of the key problems for respondents in SEC matters when there is also a DOJ probe is the danger of self-incrimination. Thus, if the SEC case is not stayed, the existence of the criminal probe will often lead individuals to refuse to provide the SEC with testimony by asserting their Fifth Amendment rights.

Breuer added that he has become "very close" with SEC Enforcement Director Robert Khuzami and was attuned to what Khuzami was doing to make SEC enforcement more robust. "I think you will continue to see that that relationship will blossom," he said.

Update, 9:20 pm: Reuters has modified the article noted above with the following clarification:

"A Justice Department spokeswoman said Breuer was referring to recent instances in which courts have elected not to put SEC civil cases on hold while criminal investigations are ongoing."

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