Regulatory Enforcement

As members of Congress continue to hash out the details of legislation to overhaul U.S. financial regulation in response to the economic crisis, at least some U.S. businesses are taking steps to get ahead of the slew of regulatory activities and proposals coming out of Washington D.C., according to a new survey. In a survey […]

A federal appeals court ruling earlier this month has laid down the law for how far e-commerce businesses must go to enforce trademark protections—and the victory goes to the e-commerce shops. The closely watched ruling, Tiffany v. eBay, is the first to address trademark law in the world of virtual retailers. Tiffany & Co., the […]

A federal judge in Massachusetts has fired a dramatic new volley in the battles over who can file whistleblower retaliation claims under Section 806 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, ruling that two employees of a private contractor to Fidelity Investments can pursue retaliation complaints against Fidelity, because the business ultimately serves investors in public companies. The […]

In anticipation of the financial reform legislation heading to the Senate floor in the coming weeks, current and past Securities and Exchange Commission chairmen are among those pressing lawmakers to keep the SEC self-funding provision in the bill. Section 991 of the bill passed by the Senate Banking Committee would allow the SEC to set […]

U.K. regulator the Financial Services Authority showed its determination to hold individual executives accountable for corporate wrongdoing this week when it fined and banned two former employees of the failed bank Northern Rock. The FSA said that David Baker, former deputy chief executive of Northern Rock, failed to escalate information inside the business about loans […]

Oh, what a difference a financial crisis and an election can have on the entire philosophy and future of financial regulation in a country! It was less than four years ago, in October 2006, that Margaret Cole, director of enforcement at Britain’s Financial Services Authority, delivered a speech at Fordham University that in hindsight now […]

The healthcare reform law passed by Congress last month has yet another surprise for corporate legal and compliance departments: It allows yet more whistleblower lawsuits to be filed against corporations under the False Claims Act. Formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the healthcare law sharply narrows the definition of “publicly disclosed […]

Corporate whistleblowers suing employers for alleged retaliation may be gaining more traction in the legal system, with two plaintiffs recently winning reinstatement of their jobs and back pay through the Department of Labor. The decisions have caused a stir in corporate legal circles because whistleblowers have rarely won retaliation claims filed under Section 806 of […]

Ethics and compliance officers might want to pay special attention to the Justice Department’s recent settlement of Foreign Corrupt Practices Act charges against chemical company Innospec, which is emerging as the latest cautionary tale about overseas bribery, self-disclosure, and global anti-corruption enforcement. Innospec, a $600 million chemical company based in Newark, Del., pleaded guilty March […]