Judge signing papers with a gavel in the foreground, representing the False Claims Act and class actions and Fresenius Whistleblower retaliations

SEC Whistleblower Gets Reward for Flash Crash Discovery

Bloomberg has reported the enforcement action and recipient of the first case of a reward for independent analysis by a SEC whistleblower (announced January 2016). The financial professional discovered a stock exchange data feed operating in violation of Regulation NMS on the day of the Flash Crash (May 6, 2010). The Securities and Exchange Commission,...

Magnifying Glass on Top of Document, representing accounting fraud

Qualcomm Settles Intern FCPA Case with SEC for $7.5 Million

Another princeling investigation has wrapped up at the Securities and Exchange Commission, although this one didn’t involve suspicions of violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act by an investment bank. Instead, it was mobile technology company Qualcomm that paid $7.5 million to resolve the government probe into bribery of employees of state-owned enterprises in China....

Washington DC Capitol Building where whistleblower statutes have been discussed, representing whistleblower protections and the CHOICE Act

New Bill for Bank Whistleblowers in Congress

Last week, Representative Elijah E. Cummings and Senator Tammy Baldwin proposed a bill to modify several financial industry laws including the Dodd-Frank Act and Sarbanes Oxley Act to enhance and extend whistleblower rewards and anti-retaliation protections for bank and Wall Street whistleblowers. For those looking to follow the legislation in the House of Representatives, the...

Highlights of SEC Speaks 2016 for Whistleblowers

At the end of last week, the Practicing Law Institute held its annual SEC Speaks conference with employees of the Securities And Exchange Commission. The program typically offers a wide range of insight into the securities regulator’s priorities for the coming year. Here are three of the discussions that hit our rader for whistleblowers: Hacking...

100 Us Dollar Banknotes, representing Barclays Whistleblower

Award Determination Appeals Offer Whistleblowers Hope

A Forbes article written by another whistleblower attorney is reporting the first settlements following appeals of award determinations by the Internal Revenue Service whistleblower program. The outcomes are remarkable because the IRS section 7623(b) program has been routinely criticized over the past few years for the dearth of payments given the sheer number of tips....

Accounting pages and a coffee mug, representing internal and external audits

IRS and CFTC Funding Fights Hamper Enforcement

Whistleblowers should continue to expect the government’s pursuit of some enforcement actions to be tempered by limited resources as both the IRS and CFTC have recently acknowledged insufficient funding is causing tough choices within their agencies. The USA Today reported today that the IRS audit rates for large U.S. corporations fell to their lowest level...

Bank buildings, representing Citigroup Accused of Spoofing

FCPA Enforcement in 2016 Continues with VimpelCom Settlement

2015 might have been a slow year for the FCPA in terms of enforcement resolutions, but 2016 is already off to the races. Sciclone, SAP and PTC have already been settled. And now there is VimpelCom, one of the largest global settlements of bribery allegations worldwide as well as in the United States. Two other...

Red White and Yellow Medication Pills, representing addiction treatment

CMS Issues Final Rule on Retention of Medicare Overpayments

CMS has issued the final rule to implement section 6402(a) of the Affordable Care Act, which relates to the obligation of providers to repay an overpayment within 60 days of identifying it, for Medicare Part A and Part B claims. CMS Rule 6037-F, as it is known, will go into effect on March 12, 2016....

FCPA News: PTC Settles for $28 Million; GCC Ups Reserve

There continues to be the release of significant FCPA news this year despite a report from law firm Miller & Chevalier noting that the number of resolved FCPA enforcement actions in 2015 was at its lowest level since 2006. The report looked at both SEC and DOJ investigations which resulted in penalties. All indications so far are...

100 Us Dollar Banknotes, representing False Claims Act

Wyeth Rebate Case to Join Ten Largest False Claims Act Settlement

Pfizer announced an agreement in principle to resolve a long running False Claims Act lawsuit against its subsidiary Wyeth for $785 million a few weeks ahead of trial. Wyeth engaged in the conduct at issue from 2001 to 2006 according to the amended complaint. Wyeth was acquired by Pfizer in 2009. The United States intervened...

Category: News