‘Enforcement 40’ for 2020
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Join the Securities Litigation and Enforcement Group on LinkedInSEC Awards Almost $30 Million to Two Insider Whistleblowers
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced an award of almost $30 million to two insider whistleblowers whose tips led SEC staff to open an investigation. The first whistleblower, who was the first to alert SEC staff of potential wrongdoing and provided substantial, ongoing assistance, received an award of approximately $22 million. The second whistleblower […]
The Impact of the Morrison Decision After Ten Years | The D&O Diary
The Morrison decision overturned decades of case law in which the lower courts struggled to apply the then-applicable “conduct and effects” test to determine whether or not the U.S. securities were applicable in any given circumstance. In a decision written by the late Justice Antonin Scalia, the Court said in Morrison that the U.S. securities […]
SEC Issues $1.8 Million Whistleblower Award to a Company Outsider
“Today’s award marks a milestone for the whistleblower program,” said SEC Chairman Jay Clayton. “This whistleblower is the 100th individual to receive an award under the program since its inception, and the 33rd individual awarded so far this year. The pace and the amounts of the awards in recent years underscore the Commission’s commitment to […]
Fraud Prevention CEO Is Charged With Fraud for Fake Sales (1)
The founder of cyberfraud prevention company NS8 Inc. was accused by federal prosecutors of raising more than $100 million for the firm by misleading investors about the state of its finances. NS8 said it is cooperating with investigators and has learned that the founder and former chief executive officer, Adam Rogas, “fabricated” much of its […]
SEC Charges Companies, Former Executives as Part of Risk-Based Initiative
The Securities and Exchange Commission today filed settled actions against two public companies for violations that resulted in the improper reporting of quarterly earnings per share (EPS) that met or exceeded analyst consensus estimates. The actions are the first arising from investigations generated by the Division of Enforcement’s EPS Initiative, which utilizes risk-based data analytics […]
SEC Charges Former Controller of Now-Bankrupt Company with Insider Trading
According to the SEC’s complaint, after Kelly retired from Aceto in March 2018, the company formally retained him as a consultant to assist in closing Aceto’s books for the quarter ending March 31, 2018. While working as a consultant, Kelly allegedly obtained non-public information about Aceto’s poor sales and earnings results and a pending impairment […]
Innocent Madoff investors must pay back profits, court rules
Investors who profited from Bernard Madoff’s massive Ponzi scheme even though they knew nothing of it must still pay back their profits, an appeals court decided Thursday. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan upheld lower-court decisions in cases filed by Irving Picard, a court-appointed trustee who has recovered money for cheated investors […]
SEC Enforcement Leader to Rejoin Sullivan & Cromwell | The American Lawyer
Steven Peikin, the former co-director of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s enforcement division, is returning to Sullivan & Cromwell. The firm announced Wednesday that Peikin, who left to join the Trump administration in June 2017, will be back at the start of November as head of its securities and commodities investigations and enforcement practice. “I […]
‘A Sleight of Hand’: Whistleblower Lawyers Recoil at SEC’s New Rules | Law.com
Whistleblower advocates voiced alarm Wednesday over the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission asserting broad discretion to lower awards for tipsters who assist with investigations, saying the agency’s move threatens to undermine a program that has been hailed as a “game changer” for the agency’s enforcement efforts. via ‘A Sleight of Hand’: Whistleblower Lawyers Recoil at […]
SEC Adds Clarity, Efficiency and Transparency to Its Successful Whistleblower Award Program
Among other enhancements, the amendments provide a mechanism for whistleblowers with potential awards of less than $5 million (which historically have represented nearly 75% of all whistleblower awards), subject to certain criteria, to qualify for a presumption that they will receive the maximum statutory award amount. Other awards will continue to be evaluated consistent with […]