Regulatory Enforcement

In a closely watched case, the U.S. government is for the first time arguing that an ineffective compliance program could be enough to constitute a violation of the False Claims Act—the federal law that imposes liability for knowingly submitting to the government a false or fraudulent claim for payment. Shepard The suit, against Merck-Medco Managed […]

When Johnson & Johnson informed Guidant Corp. that it was not required to go through with its planned $25.4 billion acquisition, the health care giant cited a series of events that have had “a material adverse effect” on Guidant. For example, the $47.3 billion consumer products giant referred to “previously announced product recalls at Guidant […]

This is the second of a two-part look at issues arising under the whistleblower provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. The first article dealt with private subsidiaries of publicly owned companies, and is available from the box at right. Although the Sarbanes-Oxley Act has been law for more than three years, it’s still not clear whether […]

When Bill Lerach announced that his law firm recovered more than $651 million for investors who were not part of the class action lawsuits arising from the financial collapse of WorldCom, the high-profile lawyer hailed the recoveries as “unprecedented.” “Recoveries represent premium over class action settlement,” screamed part of the headline announcing the settlement. “Our […]

The Department of Justice last month issued a directive requiring federal prosecutors to create a review process for supervisory approval of requests for companies to waive the attorney-client privilege and work product protection. But this should not be interpreted as a weakening of the DoJ’s interest in obtaining privileged materials, according to experts. The Oct. […]

There has been confusion to date about whether non-publicly traded subsidiaries of publicly traded companies are subject to the whistleblower provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. That conclusion—by two lawyers with Wilmer Culter Pickering Hale and Dorr in Washington—is based on a comprehensive analysis of every administrative ruling and federal court decision under Section 806 of […]

The Securities and Exchange Commission is getting tough on serial late filers and delinquent filers. The Delinquent Filings Branch of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement has revoked the securities registrations of more than 90 companies in a little more than one year, and has sent a warning that there will be many more in the […]

The U.S. Supreme Court handed a big victory to the Securities and Exchange Commission this month when it refused to review a lower court’s ruling that the Commission has broad power under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act to freeze “extraordinary payments” to company officers that are made when the SEC is investigating possible wrongdoing. A three-judge panel […]

JPMorgan Chase is defending a claim that it violated Section 806 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which protects individuals who report conduct that might constitute a violation of securities laws or rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission. The giant financial services firm received a letter in May from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration—which enforces […]