As most public company executives already know, The United States Sentencing Commission’s revised federal sentencing guidelines, which have been effective since Nov. 1, require businesses to maintain “effective” compliance programs that prevent and detect violations of law. And just as many companies were diligently altering their compliance programs to meet the amendment’s new requirements, the […]
Regulatory Enforcement
Posted inBoards & Shareholders
Court Issues Ruling Regarding Statute Of Limitations
A Federal Appeals Court ruled that lawsuits can’t be brought in cases where the statute of limitations expired before the Sarbanes-Oxley Act became law on July 30, 2002. Section 804 of the landmark legislation had extended the statute of limitations for federal securities fraud to the earlier of two years after the discovery of the […]
Posted inEthics & Culture
Lessons From The First SOX Whistleblower Cases
The whistleblower protections contained in the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 are already creating a groundswell of employee complaints, with more than 300 whistleblowers claiming their employers retaliated against them for their allegations of corporate misconduct. While only a handful of claims to date have been decided on their merits, they offer important cautionary tales for […]
Posted inRegulatory Enforcement
Six Steps For Preserving, Producing E-Records In Litigation
Over the past few years, businesses increasingly have moved away from paper record-keeping to electronic information management systems. Despite that, the legal system has been slow to account for this electronic revolution. A committee advising federal courts whether to update their rules recently issued a report after five years of study, and judges around the […]
Posted inEthics & Culture
Lines Blur Between Law Firms, Public Relations Practices
In April of this year, The Wall Street Journal ran an unfavorable article about $349.2 million NovaStar Financial, claiming that the subprime mortgage lender had purportedly failed to comply with state licensing rules. The article led to a 30 percent stock-price dip, a class action suit, and an informal inquiry by the SEC—all in the […]
Posted inRegulatory Enforcement
SEC: Those Who Aid Fraud Should Be Liable As Those Who Conducted It
In an amicus curiae filed last week, the Securities and Exchange Commission argued that those who aid and abet fraud should be liable as a “primary violator” who perpetrated the fraud. Amicus curiae, Latin for “friend of the court,” refers to a legal brief that is submitted to a court to present a particular point […]
Posted inRegulatory Enforcement
Shareholder Litigation Against Foreign Companies On Rise
According to a recent study conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers, shareholder litigation against foreign companies is on the rise this year. But experts note the numbers are low, and that they may actually decrease over the long term. The study compared the 15 class actions filed against foreign registrants in all of 2003 with the 21 through […]
Posted inRegulatory Enforcement
The Thompson Memo
January 2003 memo from Deputy Attorney General Larry D. Thompson outlined a revised set of principles that guide the Justice Department’s prosecutors “as they make the decision whether to seek charges against a business organization.”
Posted inRegulatory Enforcement
SEC Supports Retroactive Application Of SOX 804
Last week, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed an amicus curiae supporting an extension of the statute of limitations for securities fraud. The phrase amicus curiae, which is Latin for “friend of the court,” refers to a legal brief that is submitted to a court to present a particular point of view in a case. […]
Posted inRegulatory Enforcement
Severance Packages, Bonuses Under Assault
O Refund! Refund!” That’s the growing cry among shareholders and boards of directors, who are seeking the return of some or all of the bonuses—or a reduction in severance pay—of executives at companies whose stocks have collapsed in recent years. However, last week’s ruling by a federal judge that a government agency cannot withhold $60 […]