Securities Law, Labor & Employment Law, Commercial Law & Contracts

U.S. Supreme Court to Decide Whether SOX’s Whistleblower Provision Protects Employees of Publicly Traded Company’s Contractors

by Noa Baddish, Lloyd B. Chinn, Harris M. Mufson | Proskauer - Whistleblowing & Retaliation on 5/21/2013

On May 20, 2013, the United States Supreme Court granted a petition for a writ of certiorari to review the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit’s decision holding that SOX’s whistleblower protection does not...more

Whistleblower Law Firm Complains To SEC

by Jill Radloff | Leonard, Street and Deinard - Dodd-Frank and... on 5/20/2013

Two partners from a self-described law firm that specializes in the representation of whistleblowers have sent a letter to the SEC Commissioners complaining about the use of severance agreements to prevent employees from...more

"Shares for Rights: Over-Sold or Under-Appreciated?"

by James Anderson, Helena Derbyshire | Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP on 5/14/2013

In this article we consider some alternative approaches to the proposed U.K. status of “employee shareholders,” who receive capital gains tax-exempt shares in their employer (or its parent) in return for waiving certain...more

Employee Shareholders: It's Happening, but What Does it Mean?

by Nick Thomas | Morgan Lewis on 5/13/2013

New Growth and Infrastructure Act introduces employee shareholder provisions that are expected to come into force later this year. On 25 April, the Growth and Infrastructure Act 2013 came into effect and, among other...more

Employee Shareholder Status – An Innovative Solution for Innovative Employers?

by William George, Mandy Perry, Nicola Whiteley | Orrick - Global Employment Law Group on 5/1/2013

After twice rejecting the Government’s proposals, the House of Lords has just finally voted to accept the much argued Clause 27 of the Growth and Infrastructure Bill, thereby paving the way for new legislation that will...more

UK Employment Alert No 208: Employee-Shareholder Status

by Katie Clark | McDermott Will & Emery on 4/29/2013

On 8 October 2012, George Osborne announced that the UK Government was proposing a new type of employment contract, dubbed the “employee-shareholder” contract....more

Anti-Corruption High-Risk Audits

by Michael Volkov on 4/29/2013

The Justice Department and the SEC should be credited with promoting new compliance strategies and best practices. Whatever you may think about the DOJ/SEC FCPA enforcement program, they have pushed businesses to enhance...more

Insurance Coverage for Class Action Lawsuits

by Judy Selby | BakerHostetler on 4/19/2013

Upon learning that his obituary had been published in the New York Times, Mark Twain famously quipped, “Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated.” The same can be said about class action lawsuit filings after the...more

Doing Business in the U.S.

In This Issue: - Preface - Chapter 1 Choice Of A Business Entity - Chapter 2 Introduction To Federal Securities Laws - Chapter 3 From Let’S Go Shopping To Closing: U.S. M&A Process - Chapter 4...more

What is an 83(b) election and how and when should I make one?

by The R. Bernard Law Group on 4/15/2013

When an employee or service provider receives stock that is subject to vesting, they should immediately consider how that stock might be treated under Section 83 of the Internal Revenue Code. Stock grants subject to Section...more

Ninth Circuit Holds Private Company Rules Preempt California Law

by Keith Paul Bishop | Allen Matkins Leck Gamble Mallory & Natsis... on 4/10/2013

California Labor Code Section 450(a) forbids employers from coercing the patronage of their employees: It provides...more

Whistleblowing in the UK – the latest developments and a review of the law

by Daniel Ornstein | Proskauer - Whistleblowing & Retaliation on 4/9/2013

In recent months, the UK has seen a growing focus on the protection afforded to whistleblowers. This attention has emerged because of recurring question linking diverse scandals, such as phone hacking and those that have hit...more

Government Issues New FCPA Guidance: $12,000 Birthday Party Not the Way to Go

by Yonaton Aronoff | Foley & Lardner LLP on 4/2/2013

Employers concerned about their organizations’ FCPA compliance have a new, free resource available to them. Recently, the DOJ and the SEC published a long-awaited FCPA guidance for employers. The comprehensive guidance...more

UK Government Proposals to Change the Share Buyback Regime

by Sean Geraghty, Rhodri Owen | Dechert LLP on 2/27/2013

On 15 February 2013, the government published a set of proposals relating to the implementation of the Nuttall Review’s recommendations on share buybacks. The changes are designed to reduce the barriers that disincentivise...more

Legal Alert: DOL Resolves Important ERISA Issues About Cleared Swap Transactions

by Margaret C. Barker, James M. Cain, Adam Cohen, Warren N. Davis, Carol McClarnon, Jamey Medlin, Alice Murtos, Joanna Myers, Vanessa Scott, W. Mark Smith, William Walderman, Carol Weiser | Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP on 2/14/2013

In Advisory Opinion 2013-01A (February 7, 2013), the Department of Labor (DOL) issued an important advisory opinion addressing the treatment under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (ERISA), of...more

How Does Your Organization Treat Whistleblowers?

by Thomas Fox on 2/8/2013

As almost everyone knows, Lance Armstrong spoke for the first time about his performance enhancing drug (PED) use recently on Oprah. On the first night he admitted for the first time that he used PEDs during his seven wins at...more

Siemens Whistleblower Complaint Underscores Need for "Top-Down" Anti-Corruption Compliance

by Anthony Moshirnia | Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP on 2/4/2013

In 2008, Siemens AG paid $800 million to settle charges that it had violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which generally prohibits bribery of foreign officials for the purpose of obtaining or retaining business. That...more

The Growing Public Market for Private Company Shares

by Bonnie J Roe | Cohen & Gresser LLP on 2/1/2013

The Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act, or JOBS Act, was designed to facilitate capital-raising transactions by smaller companies, including private companies. A likely but less heralded consequence of the JOBS Act is that...more

How To Prevent Whistleblower Complaints

by Michael Volkov on 1/30/2013

In this era of whistleblower risk, companies need to prepare for whistleblower complaints which are made outside the company. Whistleblowers are not required to report complaints internally nor wait for any specific period...more

Skadden's 2013 Insights: Governance

by Marc S. Gerber, Barbara R. Mirza, Regina Olshan | Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP on 1/21/2013

Say-on-pay has contributed to an environment where shareholder engagement is an increasingly critical component of corporate governance. In this section, we take a broad look at the corporate governance landscape to...more

SEC Whistleblower Chief: Companies and Their Lawyers Should Not Impede Whistleblowing

by Lloyd B. Chinn, Rachel Fischer | Proskauer - Whistleblowing & Retaliation on 12/12/2012

In a recent interview with The American Lawyer, Sean McKessey, Chief of the SEC’s Office of the Whistleblower since February 2011, cautioned employers about dissuading potential whistleblowers from complaining to the SEC....more

SEC Releases First Full-Year Report on the Dodd-Frank Whistleblower Program: No Speedy Recoveries for Whistleblowers

by Rachel Coe, Mike Delikat | Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP on 11/16/2012

On November 15, 2012, the Securities and Exchange Commission released its Fiscal Year 2012 Annual Report on the Dodd-Frank Whistleblower Program (the “Report”), the first full-year report issued since the enactment of...more

The Time Has Come To Reconsider The Gutfreund Standard

by Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP on 9/19/2012

Originally published in The Review of Securities & Commodities Regulation - September 12, 2012. Under the Gutfreund standard, a legal or compliance professional can be held responsible as a supervisor if he has the...more

California Court of Appeal Refuses to Enforce Non-Compete Against Selling Shareholder

by Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP on 9/5/2012

In Fillpoint, LLC, v. Maas, Case No. G045057, 2012 Cal. App. LEXIS 914 (Cal. App. Aug. 24, 2012), the California Court of Appeal for the Fourth District recently refused to enforce a covenant not to compete against the former...more

“It’s A Poor Dog That Is Not Worth The Whistling.”

by Allen Matkins Leck Gamble Mallory & Natsis... on 8/10/2012

I expect that a decade ago, whistleblower issues were considered primarily to be the province of employment law attorneys. Then there was Sherron Watkins, Enron and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Suddenly, issues involving...more

Home

Legal News

Find a Lawyer

Browse Subjects

Subscribe

Pro Services

For Reporters

Securities Law › Labor & Employment Law › Commercial Law & Contracts