I'm guessing the devil is in the detail (and I don't know much so I'll shut up shortly) - could companies set up shell legal entities to offend for them / shop

I'm guessing the devil is in the detail (and I don't know much so I'll shut up shortly) - could companies set up shell legal entities to offend for them / shop around for a better jurisdiction to do dodgy deals in / is current law clear enough that serious penalties wouldn't end up having a chilling effect on all business (OP was implying that the current status is that if the SEC wants to, they can probably find some law you're breaking). Serious penalties would probably demand a lot of legal boilerplate to make absolutely sure 'good business' wasn't effected and the government doesn't have power to destroy politically inconvenient companies without due process; the more boilerplate, the more likely the more expensive lawyers at the banks will outwit the lawyers writing the laws. Add some (possibly sponsored) political rhetoric about regulations killing jobs in a recession and I think it gets very hard to actually nail it down.