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
Less than two weeks after it last penalized a private employer for alleged violations of whistleblower protection rules in its employee separation agreements, the Security and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) once again takes aim...more
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
On February 10, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed amendments to Exchange Act Rules 21F-3 and 6, which govern the implementation of its whistleblower program. These amendments increase the SEC’s...more
On February 10, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission proposed two amendments to the rules governing its whistleblower program, Exchange Act Rules 21F-3 and 6. “These amendments, if adopted, would help ensure that...more
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
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
On February 21, 2018, the Supreme Court held in Digital Realty Trust, Inc. v. Somers that the anti-retaliation whistleblower protections under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Dodd-Frank...more
On June 19, 2107 the U.S. Supreme Court decided Digital Realty Trust v. Somers, holding that the Dodd-Frank Act’s prohibition on employer retaliation against whistleblowers extends only to individuals who have reported...more
Today, SCOTUS handed down its decision in Digital Realty v. Somers, a case addressing the split in the circuits regarding the application of the Dodd-Frank whistleblower anti-retaliation protections: do the protections apply...more
On June 26, 2017, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to review whether the Dodd-Frank Act’s whistleblower anti-retaliation provisions protect employees who only complain internally to their employer, but do not complain directly...more
Without a bright line requirement of an SEC contact to trigger whistleblower status, employers may not learn until after termination that an employee claims to be a whistleblower. Employees often raise internal questions,...more
On March 8, 2017, a divided panel of the Ninth Circuit issued an opinion in Somers v. Digital Realty Trust Inc. that further widened a circuit split on the issue of whether the anti-retaliation provisions in the Dodd-Frank...more
Last week, a divided panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued an opinion in Somers v. Digital Realty Trust, Inc., No. 15-17352 (9th Cir. March 8, 2017), in which it held that the anti-retaliation protections of the...more
Originally published in NSCP Currents - February 2017. While announcements of large cash awards grab most of the spotlight for the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC or the Commission) whistleblower program, SEC...more
On October 24, staff of the Securities Exchange Commission (“SEC”) Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (“OCIE”) released a Risk Alert titled “Examining Whistleblower Rule Compliance” (the “Risk Alert”). The Risk...more
Risk Alert (literally)! Standard provisions in employment agreements, severance agreements and policies may run afoul of the SEC’s whistleblower regulations. In the wake of several highly publicized enforcement actions by the...more
On October 24, 2016, OCIE published a risk alert noting that the SEC exam staff intends to examine registrants' compliance with the Dodd-Frank Act's whistleblower provisions. The alert noted recent enforcement actions...more
Ha. I’m just kidding. I don’t think Spuds MacKenzie has been a thing for years. But his former patron, Anheuser-Busch InBev, ran into some FCPA problems last month, and tacked on a whistleblower charge for good measure....more
There have been lots of developments on the whistleblower front over the last couple months, and we’ve covered none of them here at Cady Bar the Door. Let’s try to catch up. Today we’ll discuss the first of this recent...more
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) continues to pursue enforcement actions against companies for whistleblower-related violations. The latest in a recent string of settled orders, which include the SEC's first case...more
SEC Brings First Stand-Alone Whistleblower Retaliation Enforcement Action - On September 29, 2016, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) brought its first stand-alone whistleblower retaliation case under...more
In two recently announced settlements, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted a strict interpretation of the whistleblower protections afforded under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer...more
Why it matters - The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) continued its efforts against anti-whistleblowing provisions in severance agreements, fining one employer $265,000 for the use of an allegedly illegal clause....more
The federal Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued six-figure fines to two different employers in the past several weeks, claiming that each crafted restrictive severance agreements that violated agency rules...more