Whistleblower News From the Inside -- September 15, 2017

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team

Barclays Whistleblowing Head to Leave Bank-Source – Barclays’ global head of whistleblowing is leaving the bank, according to a source familiar with the matter, five months after regulators began investigating Chief Executive Jes Staley for attempts to unmask a whistleblower. Britain’s two financial regulators have been investigating Barclays and Staley for alleged breaches of whistleblowing rules since April after the CEO tried twice to identify an anonymous whistleblower last year, despite strict UK rules designed to protect them.  NYT

 SunTrust Charged With Improperly Recommending Higher-Fee Mutual Funds – The SEC today charged the investment services subsidiary of SunTrust Banks with collecting more than $1.1 million in avoidable fees from clients by improperly recommending more expensive share classes of various mutual funds when cheaper shares of the same funds were available. According to the SEC’s order, the Atlanta-based firm breached its fiduciary duty to act in clients’ best interests by recommending and purchasing costlier mutual fund share classes that charge a type of marketing and distribution fee known as 12b-1 fees.  Investors were not informed that they were eligible for less costly share class options that did not charge 12b-1 fees. The avoidable fees flowed back to SunTrust in the form of higher commissions from the funds.   SEC  

 Former Utah CEO Pleads Guilty to Tax Evasion – A former CEO of a Salt Lake City, Utah company pleaded guilty to tax evasion. According to documents filed with the court, Peter Nordberg, 61, of Alameda, California, was the Chief Executive Officer of Max International, a company that produces and markets nutritional supplements directly and through independent associates and distributors. As an employee of Max International, Nordberg earned a salary and commissions equal to a percentage of sales. Nordberg caused Max International to pay his bonus income to a nominee entity he established, and used a bank account in the name of the nominee entity to pay personal expenses, causing a tax loss of approximately $275,000.   DOJ