The last two months have seen the issuance of several awards from both the SEC and CFTC. As is often the case, these awards underscore the importance of timely disclosures. Continue reading SEC and CFTC Whistleblower Award Wrap-Up: October and November
On February 8, 2024, the Supreme Court issued a decision in Murray v. UBS Securities LLC, et al., siding with whistleblower Trevor Murry in holding that whistleblowers seeking protection from retaliation under federal law needn’t show retaliatory intent on the part of their employers. Continue reading SCOTUS Sides with Whistleblowers in UBS Case
Last Wednesday, the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York (“SDNY”) announced the launch of a whistleblower pilot program, designed to proactively uncover criminal conduct in the Continue reading SDNY Whistleblower Pilot Program
Last Friday, the SEC announced that the agency had settled charges against D.E. Shaw & Co. LP, a New-York based investment advisor. Since 2011, and through at least 2019, D.E. Shaw had been in habit of requiring employees to sign agreements prohibiting the disclosure of confidential corporate information to third parties. These agreements did not have an exception for potential whistleblowers. The company also required departing employees to sign releases before receiving post-termination payments; those releases required the employees to affirm that they have not filed any complaints with any government agency. The settlement included a $10 million dollar civil money penalty. Continue reading SEC Frowns on Impeding Potential Whistleblowers: $10 Million Fine
A question that we are occasionally asked concerns attorneys as whistleblowers. It’s a reasonable question—who is better positioned to know whether their employer (for in-house counsel) or client (external counsel) Continue reading Can a Lawyer be a Whistleblower?
On May 30, 2023, the Supreme Court declined to review a challenge to an SEC award decision brought by an anonymous attorney who blew the whistle on a foreign bribery scheme. (Case No. 22-963.) The decision comes after the Second Circuit denied the whistleblower’s petition for review of the SEC’s order in November 2022, and further denied a petition for a rehearing in December of the same year. The Whistleblower’s cert petition can be found here, while the SEC’s Order and the Second Circuit’s Summary Order are available as part of the appendix to the petition. Continue reading Supreme Court Denies Cert in Whistleblower Case
