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‘Enforcement 40’ for 2020
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Join the Securities Litigation and Enforcement Group on LinkedInNondisclosure Agreements Get Trickier Under New SEC Scrutiny – WSJ
In recent months, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has taken a number of actions against companies whose various employment contracts have language that might hold employees back from reporting misconduct to regulators. A watershed moment came in September, when the SEC fined hedge fund D.E. Shaw $10 million. Startled by the size of the […]
Carson Block, Nate Anderson Become SEC Tipsters for Cash Payouts – Bloomberg
Wall Street’s cops are finding themselves partnered with an unlikely star witness against misbehaving firms: short sellers. Alongside their public reports, short sellers are quietly sharing their research about sketchy accounting and other misdeeds with the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s whistleblower office in hopes of making some extra money. *** “Many of the really […]
SEC, CFTC Pass $2 Billion Award Milestone but Reforms are Still Needed | Kohn, Kohn & Colapinto LLP – JDSupra
Combined, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) have awarded more than $2 billion to whistleblowers. The agencies’ whistleblower programs, which were created alongside each other with the passage of the Dodd-Frank Act in 2010, passed the $2 billion threshold during the 2023 Fiscal Year. Kohn, Kohn & Colapinto has […]
CFTC pays whistleblowers $16M this year for mostly crypto tips
The United States commodities regulator has paid $16 million this year to whistleblowers who gave information leading to successful enforcement actions, with the majority of the tips involving crypto. In an Oct. 31 statement, Commodity Futures Trading Commission Commissioner Christy Goldsmith Romero said most of the tips received this year involved crypto, which she claimed […]
The SEC is Receiving More Whistleblower Tips than Ever, Underscoring Importance of Reform | Kohn, Kohn & Colapinto LLP
On October 25, Gary Gensler, Chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), revealed that in the 2023 Fiscal Year the SEC Whistleblower Program the SEC Whistleblower Program received 18,000 whistleblower tips, a new fiscal year record. “The public’s tips, complaints, and referrals (TCRs) are essential to our work as a cop on the […]
SEC Settlements Over Whistleblower Protections Pile Up | Holland & Knight
As the SEC closed its fiscal year, it filed three separate enforcement actions against companies for purported violations of Rule 21F-17 under the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, which prohibits persons from impeding whistleblowers from communicating with the agency. The SEC emphasized similar themes to prior enforcement actions involving 21F-17 violations (limitations on right […]
SEC: Whistleblowers – Bloomberg
D.E. Shaw paid $10 million. I hope somebody is getting a whistleblower payment for this? Maybe the easiest lucrative job in finance is: Take a job at a hedge fund. Get handed an employment agreement on the first day that says “you agree not to disclose any of our secrets unless required by law.” Sign. […]
SEC Charges CBRE, Inc. with Violating Whistleblower Protection Rule
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced settled charges against CBRE, Inc. (CBRE), a Dallas-based commercial real estate services and investment firm and subsidiary of publicly traded CBRE Group, Inc., for using an employee release that violated the SEC’s whistleblower protection rule. According to the SEC’s order, between 2011 and 2022, as a condition of […]
SEC Charges Privately Held Monolith Resources for Using Separation Agreements that Violated Whistleblower Protection Rules
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced settled charges against Monolith Resources LLC, a privately held energy and technology company headquartered in Lincoln, Nebraska, for using employee separation agreements that violated the SEC’s whistleblower protection rules. According to the SEC’s order, from February 2020 until early March 2023, Monolith used separation agreements that required certain […]
SEC Awards Whistleblower More Than $18 Million
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced an award of more than $18 million to a whistleblower whose information and assistance led to a successful SEC enforcement action. After initially reporting misconduct internally, the whistleblower submitted information to the Commission that prompted the opening of an investigation. The whistleblower thereafter provided additional helpful information and […]