On April 25, 2017, Digital Realty Trust Inc. asked the United States Supreme Court to decide whether an employee who files an internal complaint (as opposed to a complaint with the SEC) is covered by the Dodd-Frank Act’s...more
On April 25, 2017, the Securities and Exchange Commission issued a Dodd-Frank whistleblower award of nearly $4 million, the first bounty award issued during the Trump administration. To maintain the whistleblower’s...more
On March 21, 2017, the Northern District of Texas dismissed a former employee’s whistleblower retaliation claim on the ground that her allegations of fraud were too far removed from potentially harming the shareholders of a...more
3/28/2017
/ Anti-Retaliation Provisions ,
Dismissals ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Failure To State A Claim ,
Fraud ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Internal Reporting ,
Material Misrepresentation ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Retaliation ,
Sarbanes-Oxley ,
Shareholders ,
Whistleblowers
On March 8, 2017, a split three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a Northern District of California decision declining to dismiss a Dodd-Frank whistleblower retaliation claim because the plaintiff did...more
3/9/2017
/ Anti-Retaliation Provisions ,
Appeals ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Failure to Report ,
Internal Communications ,
Retaliation ,
Sarbanes-Oxley ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Whistleblowers
In Erhart v. BofI Holding, Inc., Case No. 15-cv-02287, (S.D. Cal. Feb. 14, 2017), a bank’s internal auditor reported alleged misconduct to federal agencies, engaged in self-help discovery by appropriating the bank’s...more
3/6/2017
/ Banking Sector ,
Banks ,
Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) ,
Confidentiality Agreements ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Employment Contract ,
Protected Activity ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Subpoenas ,
Summary Judgment ,
Whistleblower Protection Policies ,
Whistleblowers
A former employee of the upscale outdoor furniture designer and manufacturer Brown Jordan recently failed in his bid to pursue whistleblower retaliation claims against the company and also found himself liable for snooping on...more
As reported by Ryan Barber of the National Law Journal, the Trump administration could change the trajectory of the SEC whistleblower office, potentially halting the SEC’s recent strict scrutiny of potential impediments for...more
This special report provides a summary of some of the significant changes and developments that occurred in the past year in the private equity and hedge funds space, as well as certain recommended practices that investment...more
11/16/2016
/ Accredited Investors ,
Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Administrative Proceedings ,
Annual Reports ,
Brazil ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Business Continuity Plans ,
CFTC ,
China ,
Compensation Agreements ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Cybersecurity ,
Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
EEO-1 ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Estate Planning ,
EU ,
European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Filing Requirements ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Markets ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Form ADV ,
Hedge Funds ,
High Net-Worth ,
Hong Kong ,
Insider Trading ,
Insurance Industry ,
Liability Insurance ,
MiFID II ,
Minimum Salary ,
OCIE ,
Over-Time ,
Popular ,
Private Equity Funds ,
Private Investment Funds ,
Proposed Amendments ,
Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes (PATH) Act ,
Regulation AT ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Required Forms ,
Retirement Plan ,
Rule 506(d) ,
SEC Examination Priorities ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Separation Agreement ,
Tax Returns ,
UK Brexit ,
Unemployment Benefits ,
Valuation ,
Whistleblowers ,
White-Collar Exemptions
Less than one month after issuing a $22 million award, the SEC issued another multi-million dollar whistleblower award on September 20, 2016. The SEC’s most recent award exceeded $4 million.
The SEC issued its typical...more
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC” or the “Commission”) has proposed numerous amendments to the Whistleblower Rules found in Part 165 of the CFTC’s Regulations. The Commission seeks to enhance the process...more
On August 30, 2016, the SEC issued a $22 million whistleblower bounty award to an individual “whose detailed tip and extensive assistance helped the agency halt a well-hidden fraud” at the whistleblower’s employer. The Acting...more
On August 16, 2016, the SEC announced that Health Net Inc. (Company) agreed to pay a $340,000 penalty to settle charges that it violated Rule 21F-17 by using severance agreements that allegedly prohibited its employees from...more
8/19/2016
/ Cease and Desist ,
Confidentiality Agreements ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Fines ,
Health Net ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Severance Agreements ,
Whistleblower Awards ,
Whistleblowers
On July 19, 2016, the SEC issued an order upholding the SEC Claims Review Staff’s (“CRS”) Preliminary Determination denying three claims for whistleblower awards. The SEC’s order explains how the claimants’ bounty requests...more
On July 8, 2016, the SEC announced the departure of Sean X. McKessy, Chief of the SEC’s Office of the Whistleblower. Mr. McKessy was the first to hold that role and started his post in February 2011. Mr. McKessy is credited...more
On June 9, 2016, the SEC issued a stunning $17 million award to a former employee, whose “detailed tip” provided original information to SEC enforcement staff that “substantially advanced their investigation” into the...more
On May 31, 2016, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) issued an order upholding the SEC Claims Review Staff’s (“CRS”) Preliminary Determination denying a claim for a whistleblower award in connection with the...more
Over the past week, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced two multi-million dollar awards to whistleblowers who provided the SEC with information in ongoing investigations.
On May 13, 2016, the...more
On March 28, 2016, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) filed an amicus brief in a whistleblower lawsuit brought by a former in-house attorney against Vanguard Group (the “Company”). The case is Danon v....more
4/4/2016
/ Amicus Briefs ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Internal Reporting ,
Protected Activity ,
Retaliation ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Termination ,
Vanguard ,
Whistleblowers ,
Young Lawyers
The Eastern District of Tennessee recently dismissed whistleblower claims, finding that the Plaintiff was not entitled to protection under Sarbanes-Oxley, Dodd-Frank, or the False Claims Act (“FCA”). Verble v. Morgan Stanley...more
Proskauer has released the 2015 Proskauer Annual Review and Outlook for Hedge, Private Equity and Other Private Funds. The 88-page report is a summary of significant legal changes and developments in the private funds space...more
11/25/2015
/ China ,
Cybersecurity ,
EU ,
Gift Tax ,
Hedge Funds ,
Hong Kong ,
Internships ,
Popular ,
Private Equity ,
Private Funds ,
Registered Investment Advisors ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
UK ,
Volcker Rule ,
Whistleblowers
On November 16, 2015, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Office of the Whistleblower (“OWB”) released its fifth Annual Report on the Dodd-Frank Whistleblower Program to Congress, which details information on OWB’s...more
On September 10, 2015, the Second Circuit issued its highly anticipated decision in Berman v. Neo@Ogilvy, ruling (in a 2-1 decision) that Dodd-Frank’s whistleblower protection provision applies to internal complaints (i.e.,...more
9/11/2015
/ Accounting Fraud ,
Ambiguous ,
Anti-Retaliation Provisions ,
Chevron Deference ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Internal Reporting ,
Retaliation ,
Sarbanes-Oxley ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Whistleblower Protection Policies ,
Whistleblowers ,
Wrongful Termination
In response to the disagreement amongst courts regarding the scope of Dodd-Frank’s employment retaliation protections, on August 4, 2015, the SEC issued an “interpretive rule” clarifying that individuals who have not reported...more
As reported by New York Law Journal reporter Ben Bedell, the New York’s Appellate Division, First Department recently held that employees could file suit against their former employer for both sexual harassment and violation...more
On May 25, 2015, the Wall Street Journal published an article reporting that tipsters have found it difficult to collect financial awards from the SEC after filing whistleblower claims....more