Archive

The Billion-Dollar Mortgage Fraud Club – New Members Welcome!

By Gordon Schnell Apparently, Bank of America is close to inking a deal with the government under which it would pay about $17 billion to settle charges of its mortgage machinations in the run-up to the financial crisis.  If finalized, BofA would be just the latest big bank to cement its membership in the Billion Dollar Mortgage Fraud Club.  Some of the other major banks that make up this elite assemblage, and...

Party in the (Wall) Street?

By Jason Enzler

The Second Circuit Court of Appeals has overturned a decision that many had hailed as one of the first to really hold Wall Street accountable for its behavior in the years leading up to the Great Recession.  The opinion, issued yesterday, found that New York District Court Judge Jed Rakoff abused his discretion in rejecting a deal brokered between the Securities and Exchange Commission and Citigroup,...

What's Really Behind This Whole “Too Big To Jail” Thing – One Bold Judge Speaks His Mind

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team So why have no Wall Street executives gone to jail for their role in contributing to the Great Recession?  It is a question that just won’t quit.  And for good reason.  The billion dollar fines keep rolling in from one bank after another.  But the titans that run these institutions have not been called to answer for any of their company’s financial misdeeds.  One...

SEC Puts Its Money Where Its Mouth Is With $14M Whistleblower Award

By Gordon Schnell It has been more than two years since the SEC Whistleblower Office officially opened its doors.  Born out of the Dodd-Frank Act, it was created to help usher in a new day of more aggressive enforcement at an agency that up until recently many believed was very much asleep at the switch.  But with all of the fanfare surrounding the new office, and the flood of whistleblower tips that have poured...

JP Morgan Testing the Boundaries of FCPA Foreign Bribery Rules

By Gordon Schnell It is a practice that apparently has been going on for years by Wall Street's biggest banks.  Hire the children of high-up Chinese officials and use them to secure big deals in China's ever-expanding economy.  There is nothing inherently wrong with hiring well-connected people.  After all, relationships are what matter most in the business world.  The problem is that when it comes to doing...

Fifth Circuit Eliminates Key Whistleblower Retaliation Protections Under Dodd-Frank – A Pyrrhic Victory for Corporations

By Gordon Schnell In a legal ruling that many corporations are surely celebrating, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has significantly narrowed the scope of who qualifies as a whistleblower under the Dodd-Frank Act.  It is only those individuals who actually provide information to the government (through the SEC or CFTC).  If a whistleblower only reports internally, to a supervisor or through the company's...