Archive

Even the Mysterious Must Face the Taxman: Australian Authorities Raid Home of Suspected Founder of Bitcoin

By Tim McCormack On December 9, police in Australia raided the home of a man suspected of being the elusive and previously anonymous creator of digital currency Bitcoin.  Launched in 2009 by an anonymous programmer known by the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto, Bitcoin has since grown exponentially.  Indeed, “[a]s it’s been adopted for everything from international money transfers to online narcotrafficking, the...

SEC Enforcement Spotlight – Bob Marley-Linked Jammin’ Java Charged with Massive Pump and Dump Fraud Scheme

By Tim McCormack The Securities and Exchange Commission filed fraud charges yesterday against nine people in connection with a classic pump and dump market manipulation scheme involving the stock of Jammin’ Java, also known as Marley Coffee.   See SEC Press Release.  According to the SEC’s complaint, Jammin Java’s former CEO Shane Whittle orchestrated the fraud, which culminated in 2011 with the collapse...

DOJ Scores Big With Record-Breaking Alstom FCPA Sentence -- Who's Next On The DOJ'S FCPA Hit List?

By Eric Havian and Gordon Schnell  (Published in Offshore Alert) Late Friday, French power and transportation company Alstom S.A. was sentenced to pay a $772 million fine for violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) through its payment of millions of dollars in secret bribes to government officials across the globe.  This follows the company's December 2014 guilty plea to the charges.  The 9-figure...

New York State Enforcement Spotlight -- Deutsche Bank

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team On Wednesday, the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) announced that Deutsche Bank will pay $258 million for New York Banking Law violations stemming from financial transactions it made on behalf of countries and entities subject to US sanctions.  Specifically, the government found that from at least 1999 through 2006, Deutsche Bank conducted more than...

In Their Own Words -- Ceresney

--  “The Division’s hard work, tremendous energy, and efficiency uncovered significant misconduct during the past fiscal year, and helped bring a significant number of high-impact, first-of-their-kind actions.”

Andrew J. Ceresney, Director of the SEC’s Enforcement Division, commenting on the SEC’s 2015 Enforcement Results.

A Step in the Right Direction for UK Whistleblowers: Financial Services Regulator Requires Whistleblowing Arrangements Be Beefed Up

By Richard Pike As we announced earlier this week, the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has imposed new rules to promote whistleblowing. This post discusses the new requirements and identifies some shortcomings. Readers outside the UK will need some background to put the new rules in context. The existing whistleblower regime in the UK does not go down the US route of providing financial rewards for...

New Campaign Aimed at Wall Street Whistleblowers

By Marlene Koury A new whistleblower platform and campaign was launched this week in hopes of encouraging banking and financial sector employees to blow the whistle on unfair practices and corruption.  The campaign -- Whistleblow Wall Street – will include billboards on Wall Street, along with a leaflet campaign in New York, Washington D.C., St. Louis, and Orlando. The campaign aims to connect with anyone...

SEC Enforcement Spotlight – Bristol-Myers Squibb pays over $14 million to settle FCPA charges

New York-based pharmaceutical company Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) will pay more than $14 million to settle SEC findings that it violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).  According to the SEC’s order instituting settled administrative proceedings, between  2009 and 2014, sales representatives of BMS China sales sought to secure and increase business by providing health care providers in China with...

In Their Own Words — Lamprey

—  “We are gratified to see the interests of participants in the CDS market – including public pension funds investing on behalf of retirees – vindicated, and competition in this important market fostered.”  

Wayne Lamprey, partner at Constantine Cannon, who, along with fellow partner Anne Hayes Hartman, assisted with the initial evaluation and filing of the claim in the credit-default swaps market case...

$1.86 Billion Dollar Credit Default Swaps Settlement: One of the Largest Since the Financial Crisis

Constantine Cannon LLP is pleased to announce a $1.86 billion settlement of In Re:  Credit Default Swaps Antitrust Litigation, a major class action lawsuit. The case alleged that 11 of the world’s largest banks conspired to restrain competition in the credit default (CDS) market.  See yesterday's Wall Street Journal report.  Constantine Cannon LLP served as one of the counsel for Los Angeles County Employees...