Tag Archives: Securities and Exchange Commission
SEC Confirms $50 Million Paid to Whistleblowers in 2017
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Office of the Whistleblower released its annual report in mid-November. It highlighted the value whistleblowers have provided to the agency and the country over the past year. According to the commission, “whistleblowers have provided tremendous value to [the SEC’s] enforcement efforts and significantly helped investors.” The agency noted […]
SEC Whistleblower Awards Total Reaches $158 Million
In late July, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) officials announced there were two more cases in which the regulator handed out whistleblower awards, totaling $4.2 million for the two whistleblowers. The total of the whistleblower payments distributed through the program is now at $158 million. One of the awards was announced on July 27 and […]
SEC Aims to Ensure Whistleblowers are Uninhibited
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has done a lot to increase the protections afforded to whistleblowers in the last several years. In 2015, the agency took several steps to further ensure whistleblowers are not prevented from coming forward and reporting incidents of wrongdoing within their organizations. Since the enactment of the Dodd-Frank Act of […]
A Roundup of Recent Important Whistleblower Cases
Are you trying stay up-to-date with the latest cases and happenings in the field of whistleblower law? We have compiled a few important cases that might piqué your interest: Whistleblowers split $1.8 Million in FCA settlement in for-profit school case Five whistleblowers recently alerted authorities to a chain of for-profit schools admitting students who were […]
SEC Brings First-Ever Enforcement Action Regarding Employee Confidentiality Agreements
In April, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) initiated the very first enforcement action regarding employee confidentiality agreements against KBR, Inc., a technology and engineering company based in Houston, Texas. Certain pieces of language in KBR’s agreement signed by its employees caused the SEC to take an interest in the case. According to the SEC, […]
SEC Offers More Guidance on How to Interpret Whistleblower Rules
In early August, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued some clarification on rules regarding internal whistleblower reporting. According to the agency, whistleblowers are to be protected under the Dodd-Frank Act when they report misconduct both internally and directly to the SEC. This is the first formal clarification the SEC has issued, and it clears […]
A Brief Overview of the New Dodd-Frank CEO Pay Ratio Disclosure Rules
On August 5, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) officially approved what has been called the “CEO pay ratio disclosure rule” under the Dodd-Frank Act. This new rule will require the majority of publicly traded companies to openly disclose how much their CEOs make in relation to the median income of the company’s other employees. […]
5th Circuit Court Revives a SOX Whistleblower Action
The Fifth Circuit Court recently revived Wallace v. Tesoro Corp, a Sarbanes-Oxley whistleblower complaint that had previously been dismissed by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas. The Fifth Circuit found the plaintiff’s alleged belief that the company was in violation of certain Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rules was not unreasonable. […]
