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Recent Amendments to SEC Whistleblower Award Program Oct 5, 2020

The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) has adopted amendments to the whistleblower program rules that the SEC suggests are designed to provide greater clarity to whistleblowers and increase the program’s efficiency and transparency.   The SEC has awarded approximately $523 million to 97 individuals since the program began. In the past…

Novartis Whistleblower Awarded $109 Million Jul 31, 2020

Novartis whistleblower, Oswald Bilotta, has been awarded $109 million by DOJ after an agreement in which the Swiss pharmaceutical company agreed to pay $629 million to settle claims accusing it of misrepresenting sponsored events as educational,  consisting of lavish events and expensive alcohol, with the intent of attempting to incentivize…

SEC Proposes Rules to Relax Exempt Offerings and Integration of Offerings Rules Mar 24, 2020

On March 4, 2020, the SEC proposed a series of amendments to Securities Act of 1933, as amended. The proposed amendments include amendments to Regulation A+, Regulation Crowdfunding, Regulation S and Regulation D Rules 506(b), 506(c), and 504 and include several non-exclusive safe harbors from integration that would increase the…

IRS Whistleblower Awards in 2019 Jan 14, 2020

The IRS made 181 awards to whistleblowers totaling more than $120 million with total recoveries of over $616 million. There was also a decrease in the total number of awards from FY 2018 to FY 2019 where awards dropped from 217 to 181, while conversely, the number of claims related…

DOJ Recovers Over $3 Billion from False Claims Cases in 2019 Jan 13, 2020

The United States Department of Justice (“DOJ”) announced that in its fiscal year ending 2019, it collected more than $3 billion in settlements and judgements from civil cases involving false claims and fraud against the government. The government also paid out $265 million to FCA whistleblowers. Of the $3 billion…

SEC Whistleblower Program 2019 Annual Report Jan 6, 2020

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (“SEC”) Whistleblower Program released its Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 Annual Report (the “Report”) to Congress on November 15, 2019. According to the Report, the number of whistleblower reports and the total value of whistleblower awards continued at elevated levels during FY 2019 (which ended…

The SEC Proposes to Expand the Definition of Accredited Investor to Allow More Access to Private Offerings Dec 20, 2019

The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) recently proposed amendments to the definition of “accredited investor” and the definition of “qualified institutional buyer” in order to expand the list of people and institutions currently capable of investing in the private capital markets, which includes fast-growing startups, private equity funds, hedge funds…

Avoiding or Reducing FINRA Fines With “Extraordinary Cooperation” Jul 15, 2019

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) issued Regulatory Notice 19-23 (the “Notice”) on July 11, 2019 to update its guidance regarding the circumstances by which an individual or firm could influence an enforcement investigation and potentially avoid enforcement fines by exhibiting “extraordinary cooperation”. The Notice provides supplemental guidance on what…

DOJ Obtains Record-Breaking $1.4 Billion Settlement in Opioid Drug False Claims Act Case Jul 15, 2019

Reckitt Benckiser Group plc, a British pharmaceutical company and global consumer goods conglomerate (“RB Group”) will pay a record-breaking $1.4 billion to resolve its potential civil and criminal liability related to its marketing of Suboxone, an opioid addiction treatment drug. The settlement is the largest opioid drug case recovery ever…