News & Analysis as of

Whistleblowers Securities Exchange Act Securities Violations

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,...

SEC Takes on Nondisclosure Agreements to Protect Whistleblower Program; Fines Firm $10 Million

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in recent years has taken an aggressive stance against employers over employment agreements that the agency believes impede its whistleblower program—as highlighted by a $10...more

Bond Schoeneck & King PLLC

Eyes on 2024: Will the SEC Continue Its Aggressive Enforcement of Whistleblower Laws in 2024?

The Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC or Commission) made clear in 2023 that it intends to aggressively enforce its whistleblower protection laws, namely Rule 21F-17, which prohibits employers from taking any action...more

Carlton Fields

Juggling Act: SEC Fines Three Employers for Potentially Discouraging Whistleblowers

Carlton Fields on

The SEC has continued its enforcement against employers — including privately held companies — that have provisions in their agreements or policies that could potentially discourage whistleblowing or communications with...more

Holland & Knight LLP

SEC Settlements Over Whistleblower Protections Pile Up

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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...more

Holland & Knight LLP

SEC to Issuers: Retaliating Against or Impeding Whistleblowers Is Not Zen

Holland & Knight LLP on

Public companies should be mindful not to interfere with or retaliate against whistleblowers, and stretching is best reserved for the yoga mat, not the numbers in a company's public disclosures. So says the U.S. Securities...more

A&O Shearman

Recent SEC enforcement relating to workplace misconduct

A&O Shearman on

Only a few months into the new year and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has begun to wade into new waters with enforcement efforts focused on disclosure issues without traditional links to securities...more

Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP

SEC’s ESG Task Force Strikes Again

Activision Blizzard Workplace Misconduct Allegations Transformed into Securities Violations - In another victory for the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Climate and ESG Task Force, videogame developer...more

Vinson & Elkins LLP

Disclosure Controls and Whistleblower Provisions Remain a Priority: What Activision Blizzard’s $35 Million Workplace Misconduct...

Vinson & Elkins LLP on

On February 3, 2023, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced that Activision Blizzard Inc. (“Activision”) — the publicly traded video game developer and publisher of such well-known videogames as “Candy...more

A&O Shearman

SEC Announces Year-End Enforcement Results, Emphasizing Record-Setting Penalty Awards

A&O Shearman on

On November 15, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) released its summary of enforcement actions for the 2022 fiscal year, which ended on June 30, 2022. The SEC announced that it filed 760 enforcement actions,...more

Goodwin

SEC Sues and Settles Claim Against Investment Adviser Representative For “Cherry-Picking Scheme” After Entry of Cease and Desist...

Goodwin on

​​​​​​​On September 13, 2022, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced a settlement with investment advisory firm Buckman Advisory Group LLC (“Buckman Advisory”) and its CEO Harry Buckman Jr. to settle...more

Stinson - Corporate & Securities Law Blog

SEC Fires Another Warning Shot on Confidentiality Agreements that Violate Whistleblower Provisions

The SEC brought an enforcement action against The Brink’s Company for using confidentiality agreements that the SEC alleged violated Exchange Act Rule 21F-17. That rule prohibits any person from taking any action to impede an...more

Goodwin

District Court Denies Payday Lender's Bid To Dismiss SEC Enforcement Action

Goodwin on

District Court Denies Payday Lender's Bid To Dismiss SEC Enforcement Action; Delaware Chancery Court Dismisses Camping World Insider Trading Derivative Suit; California Federal Judge Certifies Class Of Apple Common-Stock...more

Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP

SEC Whistleblower Protection Rule Not Restricted to Employee Whistleblowers

On July 21, in S.E.C. v. Collector’s Coffee, Inc. et al.,[1] a New York federal court held that a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC or Commission) whistleblower protection rule prohibiting actions to impede the...more

Foley & Lardner LLP

A Review of Recent Whistleblower Developments

Foley & Lardner LLP on

Whistleblower Developments is a periodic report covering significant cases, decisions, proposals, and legislation related to whistleblower statutes and how they may impact your business. Recent developments include: ...more

Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP

SEC Accuses Issuer and CEO of Violating Whistleblower Protection Laws to Silence Investor Complaints

On Nov. 4, 2019, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed an amended complaint against Collectors Café and its CEO, Mykalai Kontilai, to add charges against defendants for alleged violations of whistleblower...more

Proskauer - Whistleblower Defense

SEC Awards Joint Whistleblowers $3 Million Even Though Information Was Not Voluntarily Given

On June 3, 2019, the SEC’s Office of the Whistleblower announced a $3 million award to two whistleblowers who provided the SEC with information that led it to investigate and successfully bring an enforcement action for...more

Bass, Berry & Sims PLC

SEC Grants Eligibility Waiver to Issue Whistleblower Award

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently awarded $3 million to joint whistleblowers despite concluding that the whistleblowers did not satisfy the technical eligibility requirements for receiving an award. See...more

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

Inside the Courts – An Update From Skadden Securities - June 2017

This quarter’s issue includes summaries and associated court opinions of selected cases principally decided between February 2017 and April 2017. The cases address developing trends in class actions, ERISA, fiduciary duties,...more

Burr & Forman

SEC Fines Company for Agreements Restricting Whistleblowers

Burr & Forman on

The SEC has fined an Atlanta company $265,000 for using various severance agreements restricting whistleblower activities. The Dodd-Frank Act added ’34 Act § 21F encouraging whistleblower programs....more

Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP

SEC Bounty Hunters Take Heart: SEC Fines Company $265,000 for Using Severance Agreements That Provided a Waiver of any Monetary...

Wednesday, the SEC announced that an Atlanta-based company, BlueLinx Holdings, is settling charges that its severance agreements contained provisions that in its view might impede employees from communicating directly with...more

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