News & Analysis as of

Whistleblowers Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Rule 21F-17

Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP

SEC alleges whistleblower protection violations in customer gag clauses

On September 4, the SEC announced it had settled charges against three affiliated registrants (the respondents) accused of violating the whistleblower protection rule. According to the SEC order, from May 2021 through...more

BCLP

SEC Again Cracks Down on Companies That Restrict Whistleblowers

BCLP on

As discussed in our December 15, 2023 client alert, the SEC has waged an aggressive effort to enforce alleged violations of the whistleblower protection rule.  On September 9, 2024, the SEC announced settled charges resulting...more

Hogan Lovells

SEC, whistleblowers and impact on employment-related agreements

Hogan Lovells on

On September 9, 2024, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced it had settled charges against seven public companies that utilized employment and employment-related agreements that the SEC believed violated its...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

SEC Continues to Police Confidentiality Provisions for Theoretical Whistleblower Suppression

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on

The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) levied an $18 million fine against J.P. Morgan Securities, LLC (“JPMS”) for allegedly including overbroad release provisions in settlement agreements. This marks the continuation...more

Kohn, Kohn & Colapinto LLP

SEC’s Record Sanction Against JP Morgan for Impeding Whistleblowing is a Major Step

On January 16, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced a record $18 million sanction against JP Morgan for Rule 21F-17(a) violations, sending the strongest message yet that the SEC is cracking down on...more

BakerHostetler

Employers Beware: Broad Confidentiality and Severance Clauses May Violate Whistleblower Protection Laws

BakerHostetler on

Employers should check their confidentiality and severance agreements for a common oversight that, for some, is becoming a costly error. Recent enforcement activity by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of Rule...more

Bond Schoeneck & King PLLC

Eyes on 2024: Will the SEC Continue Its Aggressive Enforcement of Whistleblower Laws in 2024?

The Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC or Commission) made clear in 2023 that it intends to aggressively enforce its whistleblower protection laws, namely Rule 21F-17, which prohibits employers from taking any action...more

Akerman LLP - HR Defense

Jingle All the Way to the SEC: Employers (Even Privately Held) Under Scrutiny for Language in Separation Agreements Impeding SEC...

While jingle bells have only just begun to ring, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) enforcement bells have been ringing steadily throughout year. In recent months, the SEC announced significant settlements with...more

Littler

SEC Continues to Attack Non-Disclosure Agreements and Personnel Policy Provisions that Could Impede Employees from Reporting...

Littler on

The SEC continues to review non-disclosure agreements and other confidential business information provisions of publicly traded companies to ensure whistleblowers are not restricted from freely communicating with the agency...more

Womble Bond Dickinson

Recent Whistleblower Enforcement Actions Highlight SEC Focus On Employee Agreements

Womble Bond Dickinson on

In September, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) announced the settlement of three enforcement actions for violations of SEC whistleblower protection laws. In the actions, the SEC asserted that the...more

Holland & Knight LLP

SEC Settlements Over Whistleblower Protections Pile Up

Holland & Knight LLP on

As the SEC closed its fiscal year, it filed three separate enforcement actions against companies for purported violations of Rule 21F-17 under the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, which prohibits persons from impeding...more

Troutman Pepper

SEC Charges Privately Held Monolith Resources for Violating Whistleblower Protection Rules

Troutman Pepper on

On September 8, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that it settled charges against Monolith Resources LLC, a privately held technology and energy company headquartered in Nebraska. The SEC’s...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

A&O Shearman

Recent SEC enforcement relating to workplace misconduct

A&O Shearman on

Only a few months into the new year and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has begun to wade into new waters with enforcement efforts focused on disclosure issues without traditional links to securities...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

Locke Lord LLP

SEC Turns Workplace Misconduct into Disclosure Controls Violation; ‎ Clarifies Protection for Whistleblowers

Locke Lord LLP on

The SEC announced on February 3, 2023 a settled enforcement action against Activision Blizzard, Inc., finding that it failed to have adequate controls for reporting widespread workplace misconduct to management and used...more

Troutman Pepper

SEC "Levels Up" in $35M Resolution of Alleged Whistleblower Protection Violations and Compliance Program Failures Against...

Troutman Pepper on

On February 3, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that video game developer Activision Blizzard, Inc. (Activision) agreed to pay $35 million to settle accusations that it violated whistleblower...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

Epstein Becker & Green

DTSA Whistleblower Language May Be Required, but Is It Sufficient? Not According to the SEC.

Exchange Act Rule 21F-17, adopted in 2011 under the auspices of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, prohibits any person from taking any action to impede an individual from communicating...more

Stinson - Corporate & Securities Law Blog

SEC Fires Another Warning Shot on Confidentiality Agreements that Violate Whistleblower Provisions

The SEC brought an enforcement action against The Brink’s Company for using confidentiality agreements that the SEC alleged violated Exchange Act Rule 21F-17. That rule prohibits any person from taking any action to impede an...more

Cooley LLP

What does it mean to impede a whistleblower’s ability to communicate with the SEC?

Cooley LLP on

Most likely, what comes to mind when you think about companies’ impeding the ability of a whistleblower to communicate with the SEC are allegations of overly ambitious confidentiality provisions in employment agreements or...more

Proskauer - Whistleblower Defense

SDNY: Confidentiality Agreement Impeded Investors from Whistleblowing

On November 17, 2021, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York held that a company and its CEO violated Rule 21F-17 of the Exchange Act by entering into confidentiality agreements with investors that...more

Troutman Pepper

SDNY Backs SEC Whistleblower Protections, Clarifying Their Scope

Troutman Pepper on

On November 17, a federal judge in the Southern District of New York ruled that a sports memorabilia company violated the Securities and Commission’s (SEC) whistleblower protections when it sued to silence and intimidate...more

Proskauer - Whistleblower Defense

SEC Alleges Employer’s Compliance Manual Violates Rule 21F-17

On June 23, 2021, the SEC announced that Guggenheim Securities, LLC (“Company”) agreed to settle charges that it violated Rule 21F-17 by including language in its compliance manual and training materials that allegedly...more

Proskauer - Whistleblower Defense

SDNY: SOX Whistleblower Protections Extend to Investors

On July 21, 2021, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York held that the whistleblower protections established in SOX are not restricted to employee whistleblowers, but also extend to shareholders.  SEC...more

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