April 25, 2014
Second Circuit Considers Bounds of Insider Trading Laws
Labaton Sucharow
n recent years, one of the top priorities for the SEC and the Department of Justice, which prosecutes criminal violations of the federal securities laws, has been cracking down on insider trading, particularly by hedge funds that use confidential information to gain an investing edge. As many recent cases – including the successful prosecution of...
Articles & Perspectives
April 23, 2014
Employers May Come to Regret Seeking Narrow Definition of “Whistleblower”
Labaton Sucharow
One of the most important unsettled legal questions for SEC whistleblowers and their counsel is whether the SEC Whistleblower Program’s anti-retaliation provisions apply to individuals who have reported misconduct internally, but have not yet blown the whistle to the SEC. We recently published an article in the National Law Journal on this issue, arguing that...
Articles & Perspectives
April 21, 2014
New SEC Task Force Fights Financial Fraud And Encourages Collaboration with Whistleblowers
Labaton Sucharow
Last month, I attended SEC Speaks, an annual conference in which the SEC’s leadership provides insight into the agency’s priorities, projects and plans for the future. One of the key initiatives highlighted this year was the SEC’s new Financial Reporting and Audit Task Force. Comprised of SEC lawyers and accountants from around the country, the...
Articles & Perspectives
April 19, 2014
Opinion: Employers May Come to Regret Seeking Narrow Definition of “Whistleblower”
The National Law Journal
Articles & Perspectives
April 18, 2014
Senator Grassley Announces the Creation of a Congressional Whistleblower Caucus
Labaton Sucharow
Last week, we provided an update on Senator Chuck Grassley’s (R-IA) efforts to strengthen the IRS Whistleblower Program and expedite the processing of IRS Whistleblower claims. Now, Senator Grassley – a longtime advocate for whistleblower rights – has announced a new plan to create a “Senate Whistleblower Protection Caucus,” to “help bring attention to the...
Articles & Perspectives
April 16, 2014
OIG Report Praises SEC Whistleblower Program
Labaton Sucharow
The internal watchdog for federal government agencies, including the SEC, is the Office of the Inspector General (“OIG”), which conducts audits and investigations of the SEC to “promote integrity, economy, efficiency, and effectiveness in the Commission’s programs and operations.” In keeping with this mission, the OIG has issued its first audit report on the SEC...
Articles & Perspectives
April 14, 2014
SEC Orders Show Importance of Complying with Whistleblower Program Rules
Labaton Sucharow
As reported in the Wall Street Journal, the SEC recently denied two individuals’ applications for whistleblower awards because they had not met the requirements of the SEC Whistleblower Program rules. In the first case, an anonymous woman claimed that she had provided information that helped the SEC build its sub-prime mortgage fraud case against several...
Articles & Perspectives
April 11, 2014
Senator Grassley Urges IRS to Strengthen Whistleblower Program
Labaton Sucharow
Both in our practice and on our blog, we typically focus on the SEC Whistleblower Program, which seeks actionable intelligence about possible violations of the federal securities laws. But, the SEC Whistleblower Program is only one of several federal programs that seek to leverage whistleblower information to detect and deter wrongdoing. One of the other...
Articles & Perspectives
April 10, 2014
SEC Announces Additional Payout to Whistleblower
Labaton Sucharow
The SEC announced on Friday that it made an additional payout of $150,000 to the recipient of the first monetary award under the SEC Whistleblower Program, after successfully collecting more sanctions from one of the defendants in the action. With that additional payout, the whistleblower – who is entitled to receive up to 30% of...
Articles & Perspectives
April 8, 2014
SEC Officials Provide Promising Reports on the SEC Whistleblower Program
Labaton Sucharow
One of the questions I’m most frequently asked by clients, other lawyers and friends is “what’s happening inside the SEC with respect to the whistleblower program?” Recently, several top SEC officials have provided insight onto this question – and their comments indicate that the SEC continues to see the SEC Whistleblower Program as a powerful...
Articles & Perspectives
April 4, 2014
High-Frequency Trading: Further Thoughts on the “Flash Boys” Debate
Labaton Sucharow
The firestorm sparked by Michael Lewis’ new book on high-frequency trading, Flash Boys, raged on this week, with both opponents and supporters of high-frequency trading entering the fray. In a heated debate on CNBC’s Power Lunch, Lewis and the founder of IEX – a new exchange designed to limit high-frequency trading – repeated the charge...
Articles & Perspectives
April 2, 2014
High-Frequency Trading: Whistleblower Aids Investigations
Labaton Sucharow
Posted April 2, 2014 The buzz on Wall Street this week has been all about high-frequency trading and Michael Lewis’ new book on the topic, Flash Boys. As Lewis explains, high-frequency trading typically works by exploiting a powerful combination of speed and information: high-frequency traders use sophisticated computer programs to see and analyze trade orders...
Articles & Perspectives