SEC

Whistleblowers, Beware: Most Claims End In Disappointment, Despair

Topics: 
USA, SEC, Whistleblowers
Rating: 
4

Ben Hallman – June 4, 2012

At first glance, James Holzrichter's decision to tell the government his employer's dirty secrets appears to have worked out rather well. He won $6.2 million in 2005 under a federal law, the False Claims Act, that encourages whistleblowers to report fraud against the government.

When first contacted by The Huffington Post on Friday, he was on a golf course near his home in Chicago and couldn't talk for long because he was about to play the back nine. In fact, his decision to sue a former employer, Northrop Grumman, under that federal law cost Holzrichter his profession and nearly two decades of his life.

Mystery whistleblower could win big in HP accounting case

Topics: 
USA, SEC, Rewards
Rating: 
0
The following are selected extracts

Andrew Longstreth – November 21, 2012

While the Hewlett-Packard Co accounting scandal has produced several losers, it also produced one potentially very big winner: the whistleblower.

HP said on Tuesday that a whistleblower had alleged improper accounting at Autonomy, the British software company it bought last year, and said it is taking an US$8.8-billion charge.

SEC Pays $50,000 in First Dodd-Frank Whistleblower Reward

Topics: 
USA, White-collar crime, SEC, Victories, Financial industry, Rewards
Rating: 
0

Joshua Gallu, Bloomberg – August 21, 2012

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission awarded $50,000 to a whistleblower in its first payout from a program started last year to reward people who provide regulators with evidence of securities fraud.

The whistleblower helped the SEC bring an enforcement action that resulted in more than $1 million in sanctions, the agency said today in a statement. The award represents 30 percent -- the maximum allowed under the Dodd-Frank Act -- of the approximately $150,000 collected so far.

SEC Kowtows to Fortune 500, Whistleblower Says

Topics: 
USA, White-collar crime, SEC, Regulatory oversight, Financial industry, Watchdogs
Rating: 
2

Matt Reynolds – April 27, 2012

The SEC allows the nation's richest firms and financial institutions - and only the biggest and richest firms - to handpick the lawyers investigating them for corruption, a whistleblower claims in Federal Court.

Rodolfo Michelon claims that the SEC runs an exclusive "outsourcing program" for Wall Street, neutering incentives and protections for whistleblowers under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.

Bill Gates jumps into fray over SEC oil transparency rule

Topics: 
Corporate ethics, Oil & gas industry, SEC, Government transparency
Rating: 
2

Ben Geman - February 15, 2012

Bill Gates is pressing the Securities and Exchange Commission to issue strong rules that force oil and mining companies to disclose payments to foreign governments, arguing that exemptions energy producers are seeking would defeat the measure’s intent.

“I feel it is critical to ensure the final rules for this provision are strong and robust and in keeping with the intentions of Congress,” writes the billionaire philanthropist and Microsoft founder in a letter obtained by The Hill.

US Combating Crime in the Workplace

Topics: 
USA, White-collar crime, Pharmaceutical industry, SEC, Qui tam or False Claims Act, Workplace conditions
Rating: 
0

Heide B. Malhotra – January 17, 2012

In August 2011, the revised U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) whistleblower program came into effect, a program for which final rules were issued on May 24, 2011. The SEC was granted authority under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Act to provide financial rewards to whistleblowers when provided with new and relevant information regarding security laws violations.

“Eligible whistleblowers are entitled to an award equal to 10 to 30 percent of the money recovered when they voluntarily provide us with original information that leads to a monetary sanction greater than $1 million in a Commission enforcement action,” according to the SEC Whistleblower Provisions of Section 21F of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, published on the SEC website.

SEC receives 332 whistleblower complaints in seven weeks

Topics: 
USA, White-collar crime, SEC, Anti-corruption efforts
Rating: 
0

Samuel Rubenfeld – November 16, 2011

According to a report from the Securities and Exchange Commission, the commission’s Office of the Whistleblower received 334 complaints in the first seven weeks of a new program created under the Dodd-Frank Act. The report tracked tips from Aug. 12, when the rules governing the program went into effect, to Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal year.

The SEC’s program, rules for which were finalized in May, awards informants from a minimum 10% to a maximum 30% of monetary sanctions for reporting allegations of securities violations — if the penalty in the case is more than $1 million and the SEC determines the tip was original information that led to the enforcement action.

SEC targets low-level bankers, spares top execs

Topics: 
USA, SEC, Regulatory oversight, Financial industry, Anti-corruption efforts
Rating: 
2

Aruna Viswanatha – November 15, 2011

The U.S. government is not taking advantage of an enforcement tool that could potentially hold top Wall Street figures accountable for their role in the recent financial crisis, despite its prior success.

Broker-dealers, investment advisers, and others regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission are required to supervise their representatives. If a trader engages in misconduct, the SEC can sue the management with "failure to supervise."

Judge Critical of SEC Practices

Topics: 
Financial crisis, White-collar crime, SEC, Regulatory oversight, Financial industry
Rating: 
0

Peter Lattman – October 20, 2011

It is boilerplate language found in nearly every settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission: A company resolves its case “without admitting or denying” wrongdoing.

There it was again in the S.E.C.’s announcement on Wednesday that Citigroup had agreed to pay $285 million to settle a civil complaint that it had defrauded investors in a mortgage securities deal. The bank did so “without admitting or denying” the government’s accusations.

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