Archive

SEC Makes Its Second-Largest Whistleblower Award in the Program’s History

The SEC has topped a string of recent whistleblower awards with a $17 million award —its second-largest ever — to “a former company employee whose detailed tip substantially advanced the agency’s investigation and ultimate enforcement action.” This award is second-in-size only to a $30 million award made by the SEC in September 2014.  It displaces as the second-largest award, a $14 million award made...

In Their Own Words -- Goelman

-- “We will vigorously continue to investigate any efforts to manipulate financial benchmarks, and we will take action where possible to protect the integrity of these benchmarks.”

The CFTC’s Enforcement Director, Aitan Goelman, commenting on recent settlements with Citibank over charges that the bank manipulated trading benchmarks.

In Their Own Words -- McKessy

--  “The recent flurry of awards reflects the high-quality nature of the tips the SEC is receiving as public awareness of the whistleblower program grows.”

Chief of the SEC Whistleblower Office Sean X. McKessy commenting on over $10 million awarded by the SEC to whistleblowers in the past week. Click here for more.

SEC on a roll with $5 million whistleblower award

On the heels of a substantial award last Friday, the SEC has made another whistleblower award of more than $5 million — its third largest to date.  The SEC explained that the $5 to $6 million award will be going to “a company insider whose detailed tip led the agency to uncover securities violations that would have been nearly impossible for it to detect but for the whistleblower’s information.” This...

SEC Awards Whistleblower $3.5 Million For “Bolstering On-Going Investigation”

On Friday, May 13^th, the SEC made an award of more than $3.5 million to a whistleblower the agency described as a “company employee whose tip bolstered an ongoing investigation with additional evidence of wrongdoing that strengthened the SEC’s case.” The SEC’s whistleblower program explicitly provides for financial rewards not only to those whose information prompts an investigation, but also to those...

In Their Own Words — Ceresney

-- “Whistleblowers can receive an award not only when their tip initiates an investigation, but also when they provide new information or documentation that advances an existing inquiry.  This particular whistleblower’s tip substantially strengthened our ongoing case and increased our leverage during settlement negotiations with the company.”  

Andrew Ceresney, Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement,...

$2 Million SEC Whistleblower Award To Be Split Among Three Whistleblowers — But The First To The Commission Gets The Most

The SEC has announced that its most recent whistleblower award, of almost $2 million, will be split among three whistleblowers — but not evenly.  The first whistleblower, identified only as “Claimant 1,” will receive about $1.8 million.  The other two whistleblowers will share about $130,000. The SEC whistleblower program was inspired by, and roughly based on, The False Claims Act (FCA), oft-described...

State Enforcement Spotlight – Natixis Funding And Societe Generale

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team This State Enforcement Spotlight features Natixis Funding Corp. and Societe Generale. On Wednesday, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced a $56 million joint state-federal settlement for fraudulent and anticompetitive conduct in municipal bond derivative transactions with state and local government entities and nonprofits across the country. See NY AG Press...

DOJ Catch of the Week -- Morgan Stanley

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team This week's Department of Justice "Catch of the Week" goes to Morgan Stanley.  Yesterday, the company agreed to pay a $2.6 billion penalty "for misleading investors about the subprime mortgage loans underlying the securities it sold" in the period leading up to the financial crisis.  As part of the agreement, Morgan Stanley admitted that it failed to disclose critical...

Whistleblower hits big with SEC’s $80 million settlement over Monsanto’s “ultimate killing machine”

Only a day after the SEC announced that agro-giant Monsanto would pay an $80 million penalty to settle charges of accounting improprieties in connection with sales of its flagship product Roundup, attorney Stuart Meissner has said that he represents the whistleblower who brought the matter to the SEC’s attention.  If true, under the rules governing the SEC’s whistleblower program, Mr. Meissner’s client...