- Chief Compliance Officer and VP of Legal Affairs, Arrow Electronics
By 
Aly McDevitt2023-09-29T18:30:00
New York-based investment adviser D. E. Shaw & Co. will pay a $10 million penalty to settle charges brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that the company raised impediments to whistleblowing by employees.
From at least 2011 through 2019, the firm required new employees to sign agreements prohibiting the disclosure of confidential corporate information to third parties unless authorized, without an exception for potential SEC whistleblowers, the agency said in a press release Friday.
Further, from at least 2011 through 2023, the firm required departing employees to sign releases affirming they had not filed any complaints with any government agency in order for them to receive deferred compensation and/or other benefits.
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Seven public companies will pay a total of $3 million in fines for requiring employees to sign agreements containing provisions that impeded their ability to report misconduct to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Broker-dealer Nationwide Planning Associates and two affiliated investment advisers impeded potential whistleblowers from reporting misconduct to the Securities and Exchange Commission and have agreed to settle the charges for a combined $240,000.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is warning companies against intimidating potential whistleblowers by forcing them to sign broad nondisclosure agreements to deter misconduct from coming to light.
Purported “testimonial and review” site Rytr agreed to stop selling its program that used artificial intelligence to create fake content as part of a consent order with the Federal Trade Commission.
Bank of America avoided a monetary penalty in agreeing to settle charges with the Treasury Department’s Office of the Comptroller of the Currency but was ordered to shore up previously disclosed deficiencies in its Bank Secrecy Act/anti-money laundering (BSA/AML) and sanctions compliance programs.
Aviation maintenance services provider AAR Corp. will pay nearly $56 million to settle charges that it violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act when it paid bribes to government officials in Nepal and South Africa.
