Wells Notice A Wells notice is a letter that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sends to people or firms when it is planning to bring an enforcement action against them. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wells_notice
Court Finds No Duty to Publicly Disclose Wells Notices
By Randall J. Fons and Nicole K. Serfoss
On Thursday, a U.S. District Court in New York ruled that Goldman Sachs could not be sued for fraud under the federal securities laws for failing to publicly disclose that it had received a Wells notice from the Securities & Exchange Commission (“SEC”). The Court’s decision, Richman v. Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., et al., No. 1:10-cv-03461-PAC, slip op. (S.D.N.Y. June 21, 2012), held that there is no “automatic” obligation to disclose receipt of a Wells notice under the federal securities laws. The Court went further, providing some guidance to companies grappling with the always-difficult issue of whether to disclose the receipt of a Wells notice.