I should not have been surprised to learn that the SEC can bar people from becoming whistleblowers. In an unusual press release, the regulator, which in these cases, cannot name names, has “barred two individuals from the SEC’s whistleblower award program, each of whom filed hundreds of frivolous award applications.” It appears that the regulator’s… Read More >>
SEC Penalizes Guggenheim via Whistleblower Suppression Case
Managers at Guggenheim Securities, LLC, a New York City-based unit of Chicago-based Guggenheim Partners, a securities broker-dealer, and investment advisory, attempted to violate whistleblower rules, according to charges filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The result: The SEC has slapped a cease-and-desist order and a $208,912 penalty on Guggenheim Securities. Guggenheim Securities has… Read More >>
Whistleblowers in SEC Case Collect $50 Million
Would-be financial criminals beware: “joint whistleblowers,” whose identities have not been revealed, just scored a payday of “over $50 million.” That’s a big incentive to say something if you know something. The whistleblowers who collected the $50 million reported violations of financial-crime rules to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Those violations involved “highly… Read More >>
Gresham Buys Inforalgo to Bolster Regulatory Reporting
Gresham to Integrate Inforalgo with Clareti Reconciliations vendor Gresham Technologies has acquired pre- and post-trade data management specialist Inforalgo Information Technology Ltd. in an effort to to expand Gresham’s regulatory reporting capabilities, officials say. Inforalgo reports that it offers cloud-based, straight through processing (STP) solutions and automation technologies that help financial institutions with complex real-time connectivity… Read More >>
Barclays CEO Fined for Whistleblower Search
Apparently, when it comes to whistleblowers among their ranks, bank executives will have to grin and bear it or face the consequences. Such is the case for James E. “Jes” Staley, group CEO of Barclays. For the past year, U.K. regulatory authorities have been looking into why Staley was attempting to learn the identity of… Read More >>
Trump Should Keep the SEC’s Whistleblower Program
As the Trump Team begins to focus on the regulators for the securities industry, my hope is that they keep the SEC’s Office of the Whistleblower intact because it’s turned out to be a rather reliable source of information about firms great and small that are in violation of securities law. In fact, on Jan…. Read More >>
BlackRock Penalized for Anti-Whistleblower Separation Agreements
Asset manager BlackRock has been penalized $340,000 to settle allegations from the SEC that it forced employees who were leaving the firm to give up their rights to the proceeds from whistleblowing on violations of securities laws. “According to the SEC’s order, more than 1,000 departing BlackRock employees signed separation agreements containing violative language stating… Read More >>
SEC and CFTC Reinforce Whistleblower Programs
U.S. regulators the SEC and the CFTC are reaffirming their commitment to make their whistleblower systems more accessible to industry participants and financially rewarding. Most recently, the SEC has given a whistleblower an award of more than $700,000 to “a company outsider who conducted a detailed analysis that led to a successful SEC enforcement action,”… Read More >>