On January 7, 2019, the New York State Department of Financial Services (the “Department”) published Guidance on Whistleblowing Programs (the “Guidance”).
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Recent Posts tagged as 'Financial Services'
Blog Post
02/04/2019
Blog Post
10/30/2017
Imposing civil penalties and treble damages under the False Claims Act (“FCA”), the Southern District of Texas recently denied defendants’ post-trial motions and entered a staggering $298,498,325 verdict against two mortgage companies and their CEO. In United States v. Americus Mortgage Corporation, et al., No.
Blog Post
03/31/2017
A federal court recently ruled that an employee may use his employer’s confidential information in a whistleblower retaliation complaint, regardless of whether an employment confidentiality agreement prohibited him from doing so.
Blog Post
08/31/2016
The nation’s top tax court recently broadened the definition of “collected proceeds” to include payments of criminal fines and civil forfeitures, which could result in increased awards for tax fraud whistleblowers. This likely will encourage more whistleblowers to come forward with allegations of tax fraud.
The Tax Whistleblowing Law
Blog Post
12/07/2015
In November, an Illinois federal judge blocked a former bank employee from collecting his claimed relator’s share of a potential settlement between the FDIC (acting as the bank’s receiver) and the bank’s former directors. In denying the relator’s share, the court affirmed the previous ruling of a magistrate judge holding the FDIC in this case did not constitute a “government” agency as contemplated
Blog Post
11/19/2015
On November 13, 2015, the Supreme Court of New York dismissed a former Vanguard Group tax attorney's New York False Claims Act whistleblower complaint against his former employer. The court held that the attorney violated New York attorney ethics rules by bringing suit while employed at Vanguard in a position to obtain confidential information from his employer. Specifically, the court ruled that the attorney could "not proceed with, nor profit from, any disclosure of confidential information" related to the case.
Blog Post
01/09/2015
In an issue of first impression, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled in Khazin v. TD Ameritrade Holding Corp., No. 14-1689, 2014 WL 6871393 (3d Cir. Dec. 8, 2014) that certain whistleblower retaliation claims arising under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act were not exempt from predispute arbitration agreements. The court reached this decision after a plaintiff, Boris Khazin, sought to invalidate the predispute arbitration agreement he signed with his former employer, TD Ameritrade, in order to allow his case to proceed to trial.
Blog Post
01/09/2015
A former Countrywide Financial Corporation executive who blew the whistle and filed a qui tam lawsuit under the False Claims Act against Bank of America (“BOA”) is slated to receive $57 million dollars for his assistance in helping prosecutors reach a $16.65 billion settlement with BOA in August 2014.
Blog Post
08/28/2014
In Brief:
- A federal court of appeals has been asked to clarify the scope of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010’s (“Dodd-Frank” or “Act”) whistleblower protections. Specifically, the court has been asked to clarify whether the Act protects whistleblowers who do not complain directly to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) about potential fraud relating to securities laws. The court’s decision will have a significant impact on how employers respond to employees who disclose internally what they believe are violations of securities laws.