Securities Litigation

Not April Fool's for one public-company registrant, as the SEC filed its first settled action today over corporate confidentiality provisions that run afoul of Dodd-Frank whistleblower protections. The clause in question was part of the company's standard internal-investigation script and required investigation interviewees to sign an acknowledgement that they couldn't discuss the investigation or its subject matter without prior approval of the Law Department. The company paid a $130,000 fine, changed its provision to allow whistleblower reporting to SEC and DOJ, and ...