In this legal document that is actually fun to read the SEC stomps Elon "Pedo Guy" Musk's complaint regarding the settlement he made to have lawyers internal to Tesla review his tweets for appropriateness, in light of some market manipulation he had previously engaged in, to pieces. Little bitty pieces.
I particularly enjoy the part where they explain that what Musk is asking for doesn't even get Musk what he wants.
Finally, Musk's proposed relief is not even a solution to his problems with the Amended Final Judgment. Were the Court to vacate the Amended Final Judgment in SEC v. Musk, Musk's tweets would still be subject to oversight from Tesla and the SEC. Tesla would remain subject to the requirements of Rule 13a-15 to maintain and evaluate the effectiveness of its disclosure controls and procedures, including as applied to Musk's tweets, to the extent Musk's Twitter account continues to be used to announce information about Tesla to the public. Whether Tesla's disclosure controls and procedures are sufficient to ensure the accuracy of information disclosed to the public, and whether Tesla accurately describes in public filings its efforts to maintain and ensure compliance with those controls and procedures, remain valid areas of investigation for the SEC, independent of any court orders.
In sum, in 2018, to settle the SEC's action against him, Musk agreed to comply with Tesla's mandatory procedures requiring pre-approval of certain of his Tesla-related public communications. Musk cannot now cast off the Amended Final Judgment simply because he has found complying with Tesla's procedures to be less convenient than he had hoped, or because he wishes the SEC would not investigate whether Tesla's disclosure controls and procedures are actually being maintained and followed. "When it comes to civil settlements, a deal is a deal, absent far more compelling circumstances than are here presented." Conradt, 309 F.R.D. at 188. Musk's motion to vacate or modify the Amended Final Judgment should thus be rejected.
Via The Daily Beast
