Securities fraud

Life Under New Whistleblower Rules

Karen Kroll June 21, 2011

The SEC's new whistleblower bounty program is here, and corporate compliance departments should start acting accordingly. That means a review of employees exempted from collecting the rewards, a fresh look at confidentiality agreements, and more. Above all, encourage a culture of speaking up, because "The SEC is clearly pushing companies to self-report," says Robert Wild of the law firm Katten Muchin Rosenman.

NERA: SEC Settlements Values Remain High

Melissa Aguilar August 10, 2009

Corporate and white-collar defendants wondering what the cost of settling a Securities and Exchange Commission enforcement action is these days should take note—it isn't cheap.That's according to the latest research by NERA Economic Consulting, which shows that the median value of SEC settlements for both companies and individuals in 2009...

Enforcement Director Chatman Thomsen to Leave SEC

Melissa Aguilar February 09, 2009

Just days after the Securities and Exchange Commission’s new chairman announced moves to shake things up in the agency’s enforcement division, the SEC announced the departure of director Linda Chatman Thomsen.An SEC press release said Thomsen plans to return to the private sector.While no offical announcement has been made about...

Madoff Whistleblower Blasts SEC Inaction

Melissa Aguilar February 04, 2009

The whistleblower credited with repeatedly tipping off the Securities and Exchange Commission over the last nine years about the alleged multi-billion dollar Ponzi scheme involving Bernard Madoff publicly blasted the agency as “over-lawyered” and captive to the industry it regulates.Harry Markopolos, the whistleblower who provided the SEC with findings of...

Cox Calls It Quits

Melissa Aguilar January 21, 2009

The Securities and Exchange Commission has confirmed that, as expected, chairman Christopher Cox, resigned yesterday as President Obama took office.Cox’s departure was confirmed by SEC spokesman John Nester.On Wednesday evening, President Obama appointed commissioner Elisse Walter as acting Chairman.Obama has nominated veteran securities industry regulator Mary Schapiro to serve as...

Foreign Investors Keep Their Taste for U.S. Lawsuits

Melissa Aguilar December 30, 2008

The growing trend of foreign investors’ involvement in U.S. securities class-action lawsuits remains alive and well, according to statistics tracked by RiskMetrics Group.From 1996 through 2007, international institutional investors sought to serve as lead plaintiff in a U.S. securities class-action lawsuit 234 times in 134 separate cases. Those investors have...

Cox Seeks IG Investigation Into Madoff Case

Melissa Aguilar December 17, 2008

The news surrounding influential Wall Street money manager and former Nasdaq Stock Market chairman Bernard Madoff keeps getting worse.Acknowledging that the agency failed, for nearly a decade, to fully investigate allegations against the high-profile money manager now charged with securities fraud in a multi-billion dollar Ponzi scheme, Securities and Exchange...

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