Friday Roundup
Settled, not a victim, and monitor reports. It’s all here in the Friday roundup.
Settled
As highlighted in this prior post, in 2021 Shaquala Williams (a former employee of JPMorgan in New York city) filed a civil complaint in federal court (S.D.N.Y) against JPMorgan in connection with (at least in part) compliance obligations imposed upon JPMorgan in connection with resolution of its 2016 FCPA enforcement action. JPMorgan responded (see here) by filing a motion for summary judgment which was mostly denied by Judge Jed Rakoff who set a trial date for November 2022.
As reported here, the parties have reached an agreement to resolve the matter.
Words Matter As The First Circuit Concludes That The FCPA Is Not A “Rule Or Regulation” Of The SEC
Recently, the First Circuit concluded that the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act is not “a rule or regulation” of the SEC as that term is used in Section 1514A of Sarbanes-Oxley (a whistleblower protection provision).
In terms of background, Earl Donald Baker was an employee of Smith & Wesson (“S&W”) who was terminated. Thereafter, Baker filed a complaint against S&W asserting that S&W retaliated against him for reporting illegal conduct by S&W employees. He asserted, among other things, a claim under Section 1514A of Sarbanes-Oxley and alleged that the purported misconduct that he reported to S&W’s human resources and general counsel was that management employees received large bribes and provided improper preferential treatment to a vendor.
JPMorgan Responds To Whistleblower Complaint Connected To Its 2016 FCPA Enforcement Action
As highlighted here and here, in November 2016 JPMorgan (and related entities) resolved a $202.6 million DOJ and SEC Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement action based on its alleged improper hiring and internship practices that the U.S. government has labeled bribery and corruption.
The DOJ action was resolved through a three year non-prosecution agreement involving JPMorgan Securities (Asia Pacific) Limited (“JPMorgan-APAC), a wholly subsidiary of JP Morgan, which involved a variety of requirements and undertakings imposed upon the company – as is typical in resolving FCPA enforcement actions.
As highlighted here, in late 2021 Shaquala Williams (a former employee of JPMorgan in New York city) filed a civil complaint in federal court (S.D.N.Y) against JPMorgan.
D.C. Circuit Backs SEC’s Denial Of Whistleblower Bounties To Two Claimants In Connection With Novartis FCPA Enforcement Action
In 2016, Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis coughed up $25 million to resolve a SEC FCPA enforcement action focused on the conduct of its indirect Chinese subsidiaries. (See here).
In the aftermath of the enforcement action, twelve individuals filed applications with the SEC for a whistleblower bounty pursuant to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and the SEC determined that two claimants deserved a joint award.
Two of the ten claimants whose applications were denied, appealed the SEC’s denial to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals and in this recent decision the Court sided with the SEC in its denial.
Thoughts On The JPMorgan Whistleblower Complaint
This recent post highlighted the whistleblower complaint filed by a former employee of JPMorgan (Shaquala Williams) in connection with the 2016 Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement action against the company.
As described in the prior post, the JPMorgan enforcement action was based on alleged improper hiring and internship practices that the U.S. government labeled bribery and corruption. The DOJ portion was resolved through a three year non-prosecution agreement involving JPMorgan Securities (Asia Pacific) Limited (“JPMorgan-APAC), a wholly subsidiary of JP Morgan, which involved a variety of requirements and undertakings imposed upon the company – as is typical in resolving FCPA enforcement actions.