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Foreign Whistleblowers Fuel SEC Enforcement Activity, Raising the Stakes for Global Corporate Compliance
On July 21, 2010, when President Obama signed into law the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank), the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) Whistleblower Program went into effect, entitling “eligible” whistleblowers to an award of 10%-30% of the monetary sanctions collected in actions brought by the SEC. An “eligible” whistleblower is a person who voluntarily provides original information about a possible violation of the federal securities laws that has occurred, is ongoing, or is about to occur. If that information leads to a successful SEC action resulting in an order of monetary sanctions over $1 million, the whistleblower(s) can collect their bounty. Over the lifetime of the program, the SEC has addressed more than 390 award claims and has awarded more than $67 million to 29 individuals, known as claimants, in connection with 16 actions.
Neither Dodd-Frank nor SEC regulations prohibit a foreign national or U.S. citizen living or working abroad from being an eligible whistleblower. And as the SEC continues to see an uptick in both the quality and quantity of tips under the Whistleblower Program, those tips are increasingly coming from individuals outside of the United States. With this new increase in whistleblowing tips coming from foreign jurisdictions, companies must be prepared, and must adjust their compliance and monitoring systems to work within this new paradigm.
The DOJ's New Parameters for Evaluating Corporate Compliance Programs
The parameters set forth in the DOJ's memorandum have implications not only for the government's evaluation of compliance programs in the context of criminal charging decisions, but also for how defense counsel structure their conference-room advocacy seeking declinations or lesser sanctions in both criminal and civil investigations.
The DOJ's Corporate Enforcement Policy: One Year Later
The DOJ's Criminal Division issued three declinations since the issuance of the revised CEP a year ago. Review of these cases gives insight into DOJ's implementation of the new policy in practice.
Use of Deferred Prosecution Agreements In White Collar Investigations
This article discusses the practical and policy reasons for the use of DPAs and NPAs in white-collar criminal investigations, and considers the NDAA's new reporting provision and its relationship with other efforts to enhance transparency in DOJ decision-making.
Bankruptcy Sales: Finding a Diamond In the Rough
There is no efficient market for the sale of bankruptcy assets. Inefficient markets yield a transactional drag, potentially dampening the ability of debtors and trustees to maximize value for creditors. This article identifies ways in which investors may more easily discover bankruptcy asset sales.
A Lawyer's System for Active Reading
Active reading comprises many daily tasks lawyers engage in, including highlighting, annotating, note taking, comparing and searching texts. It demands more than flipping or turning pages.