News & Analysis as of

Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act Whistleblowers Securities Exchange Act

The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act is a United States federal statute signed into law on July 21, 2010. The Act was passed in response to the Great Recession of the late 2000s and... more +
The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act is a United States federal statute signed into law on July 21, 2010. The Act was passed in response to the Great Recession of the late 2000s and includes broad reforms related to many aspects of the financial and banking industry. Notable sections of the Act include stricter regulations of the derivatives market, as well as the Volcker Rule, which restricts the trading practices of FDIC-insured institutions.    less -
Foley & Lardner LLP

Does Your Company Discourage Employees from Being Whistleblowers? The SEC May Think So!

Foley & Lardner LLP on

The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which was enacted in 2010 in response to the 2008 financial crisis, added protections for whistleblower activity to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (“Exchange...more

WilmerHale

SEC Continues Scrutiny of Provisions That Might Impede Whistleblowers

WilmerHale on

On September 9, 2024, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced settled charges against seven public companies for violations of certain whistleblower protections provided by Rule 21F-17 under the Securities...more

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,...

CFPB Warns Employee NDAs, Confidentiality Agreements May Violate Whistleblower Laws

On July 24, 2024, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued guidance putting financial regulators and employers on notice that requiring employees to sign broad confidentiality or nondisclosure agreements that...more

Holland & Knight LLP

SEC to Issuers: Retaliating Against or Impeding Whistleblowers Is Not Zen

Holland & Knight LLP on

Public companies should be mindful not to interfere with or retaliate against whistleblowers, and stretching is best reserved for the yoga mat, not the numbers in a company's public disclosures. So says the U.S. Securities...more

White & Case LLP

How to Avoid Risk of SEC Whistleblower Rule Violations in Connection with Employee-related Documents

White & Case LLP on

On February 3, 2023, the US Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") announced that a public company agreed to pay $35 million to settle charges of, among other things, violations of the whistleblower protection rule.1...more

Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP

SEC’s ESG Task Force Strikes Again

Activision Blizzard Workplace Misconduct Allegations Transformed into Securities Violations - In another victory for the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Climate and ESG Task Force, videogame developer...more

Vinson & Elkins LLP

Disclosure Controls and Whistleblower Provisions Remain a Priority: What Activision Blizzard’s $35 Million Workplace Misconduct...

Vinson & Elkins LLP on

On February 3, 2023, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced that Activision Blizzard Inc. (“Activision”) — the publicly traded video game developer and publisher of such well-known videogames as “Candy...more

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

Second Circuit Limits Scope of SEC Whistleblower Incentives

A recent decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has implications for whistleblowers under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (“Dodd-Frank Act” or “The Act”). In Hong v. SEC,...more

Holland & Knight LLP

Overblown? SEC's Aggressive Enforcement of Rule 21F-17 for Whistleblower Protection

Holland & Knight LLP on

Section 21F, titled "Whistleblower Incentives and Protection," is a set of provisions within the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 that govern, among other things, the rights and obligations of SEC whistleblowers and the...more

Foley & Lardner LLP

Whistleblower Newsletter Q2 2022

Foley & Lardner LLP on

Whistleblower Developments is a periodic report covering significant cases, decisions, proposals, and legislation related to whistleblower statutes and how they may impact your business. Recent developments include:...more

Proskauer - Whistleblower Defense

SEC Amends Whistleblower Program Rules

On September 23, 2020, by a vote of 3 to 2, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced the adoption of a final rule implementing several changes to its whistleblower program, citing the need to “provide greater...more

Dorsey & Whitney LLP

The New SEC Whistleblower Rules: Improving A Successful Program Or Undermining It?

Dorsey & Whitney LLP on

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (“Commission” or “SEC”) whistleblower program has, by all accounts, been a huge success.  Added to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (“Exchange Act”) as Section 21F by the...more

Foley & Lardner LLP

A Review of Recent Whistleblower Developments

Foley & Lardner LLP on

Whistleblower Developments is a periodic report covering significant cases, decisions, proposals, and legislation related to whistleblower statutes and how they may impact your business. Recent developments include: ...more

Bass, Berry & Sims PLC

SEC Grants Eligibility Waiver to Issue Whistleblower Award

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently awarded $3 million to joint whistleblowers despite concluding that the whistleblowers did not satisfy the technical eligibility requirements for receiving an award. See...more

WilmerHale

CFTC Announces Whistleblower Award Totaling More Than $2 Million To Company Outsider

WilmerHale on

On March 4, 2019, the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced a whistleblower award totaling more than $2 million to a company outsider who contributed information through independent analysis that led to a...more

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

Inside the Courts – An Update From Skadden Securities - June 2017

This quarter’s issue includes summaries and associated court opinions of selected cases principally decided between February 2017 and April 2017. The cases address developing trends in class actions, ERISA, fiduciary duties,...more

Baker Donelson

Small Business Securities Bulletin: Standard Confidentiality Provisions May Be Prohibited "Pretaliation" in Eyes of SEC

Baker Donelson on

As we discussed in our June 2011 Bulletin, available here, SEC rules promulgated under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (Exchange Act), pursuant to Section 21F thereunder as enacted by the Dodd-Frank Wall...more

Stinson - Corporate & Securities Law Blog

SEC Brings Second Whistleblower Retaliation Case

The SEC has brought its second case for retaliation against a whistleblower against International Game Technology. According to the SEC, the whistleblower, a director of an IGT division, started working at IGT in 2008 and...more

Goodwin

Update: Another SEC Enforcement Action on Whistleblower Waivers and Releases

Goodwin on

Summary - Earlier this month, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced its second significant enforcement action against an employer based on confidentiality and release provisions that the SEC asserts...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

SEC Targets Employment Agreements Requiring Waiver of Whistleblower Awards

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on

The SEC’s Office of the Whistleblower continues to examine employee severance, settlement and confidentiality agreements for language that might chill reporting of securities violations to the SEC and other regulators. The...more

Snell & Wilmer

Standard Severance Agreements May Need to Be Revised

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Many employers offer severance agreements to departing employees which, at least in part, are designed to protect the employer from disclosures of confidential information and from any future claims or recovery by the...more

Proskauer - Whistleblower Defense

SEC Continues To Scrutinize Separation Agreements

On August 16, 2016, the SEC announced that Health Net Inc. (Company) agreed to pay a $340,000 penalty to settle charges that it violated Rule 21F-17 by using severance agreements that allegedly prohibited its employees from...more

Burr & Forman

SEC Fines Company for Agreements Restricting Whistleblowers

Burr & Forman on

The SEC has fined an Atlanta company $265,000 for using various severance agreements restricting whistleblower activities. The Dodd-Frank Act added ’34 Act § 21F encouraging whistleblower programs....more

Proskauer - Whistleblower Defense

SEC Penalizes Company For Severance Language Purportedly Impeding Complaints

On August 10, 2016, the SEC announced that BlueLinx Holdings Inc. (Company) is settling charges that it violated Rule 21F-17 by requiring outgoing employees to waive whistleblower bounty awards in connection with severance...more

Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP

SEC Bounty Hunters Take Heart: SEC Fines Company $265,000 for Using Severance Agreements That Provided a Waiver of any Monetary...

Wednesday, the SEC announced that an Atlanta-based company, BlueLinx Holdings, is settling charges that its severance agreements contained provisions that in its view might impede employees from communicating directly with...more

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