Closeup of Library Book Spines, representing whistleblower report and Internal SEC Whistleblowers

SEC Issues Annual Whistleblower Report for 2017

Annual Whistleblower Report is Here The annual SEC whistleblower report to Congress for Fiscal Year 2017 has been released. It provides information and data about the activities of the SEC Whistleblower Office (referred to in the report as OWB) from October 1, 2016 to September 30, 2017. Over the year period, the SEC received over...

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Wisconsin False Claims Act Repeal Costs State $11 Million

An Expensive False Claims Act Repeal The Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism has estimated that the state of Wisconsin gave up $11 million when it weakened the Wisconsin False Claims Act and then repealed it as part of the 2015-2017 budget process. The Federal False Claims Act, 31 U.S.C. § 3729 et. seq., is the...

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SEC Enforcement Division Issues Annual Report on FY2017

Annual Report by the SEC Enforcement Division This week, the SEC Enforcement Division issued its annual report on its enforcement actions in Fiscal Year 2017 and its priorities for the future. The SEC whistleblower office will put out a separate report, but the enforcement division noted that the SEC reviewed more than 16,000 tips and...

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Senate Reconsiders Strong Whistleblower Protections

Whistleblower Protections Back in the Senate The bipartisan bill promoting whistleblower protections for individuals reporting antitrust violations, the Criminal Antitrust Anti-Retaliation Act (“CAARA”), is back in the Senate. The law is co-sponsored by Senators Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) and Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont). On November 2nd, S. 807 advanced out of the Senate Judiciary Committee and the...

Close-up Photograph of a Calculator and a Graph Paper, representing the IRS

IRS LB&I Now Has 24 Issues for Tax Examinations

The IRS Large Business & International Division (LB&I) is launching eleven compliance campaigns to target potential tax issues at the nearly 300,000 taxpayers within its jurisdiction. When a regulator announces that it will spend resources for investigation and enforcement in a particular area, it can be a good signal that it will look carefully at...

Dollar banknote on white table, representing whistleblower amendments, insider trading, and whistleblower awards.

Grassley Proposes 15 Solid Whistleblower Amendments to Senate’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act

Whistleblower Amendments Proposed Senator Grassley has proposed 15 amendments to the Senate bill for the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Two of those amendments are important to whistleblowers, so we are going to examine them in more detail here. Amendment #1 from Grassley is intended to unify the tax treatment of whistleblower awards. The amendment...

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SEC Whistleblowers: Have Investors Been Seriously Harmed?

SEC Whistleblowers: Technical violation or substantial damages? One of the central questions that we ask in the evaluation of information from potential whistleblowers is whether there is real and actual harm as a result of the company or individual breaking the law. In other words, is it merely a technical violation of the law or...

Crop doctor with stethoscope in hospital, representing hospice fraud and medical malpractice reform

DOJ Announces Largest Hospice Fraud Settlement Ever – $75 Million

The Largest Hospice Fraud Settlement Ever The Justice Department announced the resolution of a False Claims Act lawsuit with a $75 million settlement by Chemed Corporation and various wholly-owned subsidiaries, including Vitas Hospice Services. The settlement is the largest amount ever recovered under the False Claims Act from a provider of hospice services, according to...

Close-up Photo of Codes representing the cyber unit as well as hackers and insider trading

Strong Cyber Unit and Retail Strategy Task Force Priorities of 2017

We wrote a few months back about the creation of the Cyber Unit and Retail Strategy Task Force at the SEC. In the Keynote Speech at the Securities Enforcement Forum, Co-Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement Stephanie Avakian provided additional information about the priorities of these units and the need for them to exist....

Magnifying Glass on Top of Document, representing accounting fraud

SEC Charges Rio Tinto with Big Accounting Fraud in 2017

SEC Charges Rio Tinto with Accounting Fraud The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has filed a complaint in the Southern District of New York alleging violations of the Securities Act and the Exchange Act for an accounting fraud related to the valuation of a coal business in Mozambique, Africa. Rio Tinto settled the investigation of...

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