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The Securities and Exchange Commission recently announced the appointment of William D. Duhnke III as Chairman and J. Robert Brown, Kathleen M. Hamm, James G. Kaiser, and Duane M. DesParte as board members of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB). The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 established the PCAOB to oversee public companies and broker-dealers. …

In Somers v. Digital Realty Trust, 15-17352 (9th Cir. March 8, 2017), a split Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals widened an existing circuit court split by ruling that Section 21F of the Dodd-Frank Act (“DFA”) protects individuals who make internal disclosures as well as those who make disclosures to the Securities and Exchange Commission…

On August 30, 2016, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced that it surpassed the $100 million mark in monetary awards for whistleblowers. Through the enactment of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (“Dodd-Frank Act”), Congress established the whistleblower program to incentivize whistleblowers…

On May 17, 2016, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that it would award between $5 million and $6 million, the third-highest award ever, to a whistleblower who provided information detailing securities violations committed by the whistleblower’s former employer. Under the so-called “bounty” provision of the Dodd-Frank Act, the SEC is authorized to award…

A federal appeals court ruling on the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (“DFA”) may prompt U.S. Supreme Court review as to when an employee whistleblower is entitled to the benefits of the anti-retaliation provisions of the DFA.

In a two-to-one decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, in New…

The Securities and Exchange Commission recently settled its first administrative proceeding and enforcement action under the Dodd-Frank Act involving an employer’s use of a form confidentiality agreement.  The SEC found the agreement, which prohibited employees from discussing aspects of internal investigations without prior law department authorization, could interfere with the employee’s ability to communicate with…

Whether a claimant qualifies as a whistleblower under the  language of the Dodd-Frank Act when he  does not complain directly to the SEC is  the question the Eighth  Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis may attempt to answer.

Securities clearing and settlement firm COR Clearing LLC has appealed a Nebraska District Court’s denial of…

 

The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) has announced that it has entered into a cease and desist order with gun manufacturer Smith & Wesson for violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) by allegedly bribing representatives of international buyers with gifts of products or money, in the hope of obtaining sales contracts for the…