Compliance officers, human resources personnel, internal auditors, legal counsel, and other senior executives were surveyed by NAVEX Global, a corporate compliance consulting firm, in September 2012.  The survey explored the ways in which ethics and compliance programs can cultivate trust and engagement between workers and management. The top three findings focused on transparency, the evolving [...]

Although the whistleblower “bounty” programs created by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act have gotten a good deal of attention from in the media, Dodd-Frank also created a very important set of whistleblower protections for employees of a wide range of businesses who oppose or report  violations of a number of federal [...]

Pricewaterhouse Coopers (“PWHC”) released a global economic crime survey in late November entitled “Cybercrime: Protecting Against the Growing Threat.”  While the survey dealt in large part with the growing threat of cybercrime in the economic and financial industries, it did have some very encouraging news about other types of financial crime, assuming that the survey [...]

The DOL’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has released a newly updated manual for investigations of whistleblower retaliation. The manual, which replaces a previous edition from 2003, is part of a larger effort by OSHA to improve the handling of retaliation claims. OSHA is responsible for investigating employees’ whistleblower complaints under 21 federal statutes, ranging [...]

In the first decision interpreting the scope of Dodd-Frank’s whistleblower anti-retaliation provisions, a United States District Judge for the Southern District of New York found in favor of the whistleblower, reasoning that the anti-retaliation provisions of Dodd-Frank do not apply only to those who provide information to the SEC, but also to those whose disclosures [...]

 At a public meeting this morning, the SEC adopted long-awaited final rules that govern the Commission’s whistleblower program established by the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial reform law.  The program provides whistleblowers with financial awards if they provide original information to the SEC leading to a successful enforcement action. Despite a vigorous campaign by corporate interests led [...]

The Securities and Exchange Commission voted unanimously last week to propose rules for the new whistleblower program that rewards individuals who provide the agency with “high-quality tips that lead to successful enforcement actions.” The new program was included in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and  Consumer Protection Act that was enacted earlier this year.  In [...]

In an effort to curb the rampant financial misconduct that contributed to the 2008 financial crisis, exemplified by Bernard Madoff’s notorious ponzi scheme, the Dodd-Frank Financial Reform Act of 2009 required the Securities and Exchange Commission to set aside at least $300 million in rewards for financial industry whistleblowers to incentivize internal reports of financial [...]

The passage of the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act in late July of this year includes a robust strengthening of the protections already given to workplace whistleblowers under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX). In an effort to rein in the rampant financial misconduct that contributed in part to the 2008 financial [...]

In an effort to curb financial misconduct in the wake of the 2008 recession, the recent Dodd-Frank act strengthened the whistleblower protection measures of Sarbanes-Oxley Act by providing incentives to informants who step forward and speak up. According to the act, informants who provide “original information” to the Securities and Exchange Commission can be awarded [...]