Jordan Thomas Testifies at Congressional Hearing on Proposals to Strengthen Securities Enforcement

On June 19, 2019, nationally recognized SEC whistleblower lawyer Jordan A. Thomas testified before the U.S. House Committee of Financial Services at a hearing convened by the Subcommittee on Investor Protection, Entrepreneurship and Capital Markets, entitled “Putting Investors First: Examining Proposals to Strengthen Enforcement Against Securities Law Violators.”

As the Committee examined legislative proposals that would arm regulators and law enforcement with more tools in their arsenal to take on bad actors, Thomas brought his perspective as both a principal architect of the SEC’s whistleblower program and the leader of one of the most successful SEC whistleblower practices in the nation.

In his testimony, Mr. Thomas noted:

The reality is, and you won’t hear it admitted often or publicly, securities violations are extremely difficult to detect, investigate and prosecute. And, due to the vast scope, rapidly growing and dizzyingly complex markets, products and transactions they are responsible for, our financial watchdogs are losing ground, investors are being injured and too many bad guys are getting away. Particularly troubling to me, even when securities violators are caught, they are not being held fully accountable for their wrongdoing because of a series of adverse Supreme Court decisions, which undermine long-term deterrence.

Mr. Thomas’ full written testimony, which is available here, addresses five main areas of focus for improved SEC enforcement:

• Bolstering SEC Enforcement Remedies: Disgorgement, Penalties, and Statutes of Limitations
• Strengthening Whistleblower Anti-Retaliation Protections
• Clawbacks of Executive Compensation
• Bad Actor Disqualifications
• Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) Issues

A recorded webcast of the live, open hearing can be found on the House Committee on Financial Services website here.