The Danger of an Out-of-Touch C-Suite
Corporate leaders can easily be entranced by their offices, trappings of power and position in their organizations. All too often, the C-Suite loses any real connection with the rank and file. Employees look to corporate leaders as examples of ethics and commitment to the corporate mission. If the leaders make no effort, the critical link […]
Senator Grassley Introduces Long-Promised Proposed Amendments to the False Claims Act
On Monday, July 26, 2021, a bipartisan group of senators, led by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), introduced a bill titled “False Claims Amendments Act of 2021” aimed...
On the Horizon? ESG Disclosure Requirements for Financial Institutions
The Securities and Exchange Commission has made a series of public statements and taken preliminary steps indicating that it likely soon will expand its climate-related disclosure requirements for all public companies, including financial institutions. To that end, the SEC’s Spring 2021 agenda included four ESG-related rulemakings in the Proposed Rule Stage, noting October 2021 for […]
DOJ’s Antitrust Division Charges Seris Security and Three Executives, and Announces Plea Agreement with...
The Justice Department’s Antitrust Division returned a criminal indictment against Seris Security and three executives: Danny Vandormael, CEO of Seris; Peter Verpoort, Director for Security at Seris; and Jean Paul Van Avermaet, CEO of G4S Secure Solutions, for participating in the bid-rigging conspiracy for U.S. and NATO security contracts. All of the defendants are Belgian […]
5th Circuit Affirms Dismissal in FCA Action But Declines to Adopt § 3730 Standard
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit recently affirmed a district court’s decision to dismiss a False Claims Act action, finding that...
False Claims Investigations and Criminal Prosecutions: Recent Examples of Criminal Charges – a Lab...
In the fifth of a series of postings, Michael Volkov reviews a variety of recent FCA cases which demonstrate his point that companies should promptly prepare for an enforcement onslaught over the next few years. In what he describes as “a stark example”, Volkov describes a case resulting in criminal, as well as civil, charges. […]
SEC Prevails in Case Challenging its Anti-Gag Rule, a Pillar of the SEC Whistleblower...
A critical reason for the success of the SEC whistleblower program is the SEC’s adoption and enforcement of a strong anti-gag rule prohibiting any “person” from taking “any action to impede an individual from communicating directly with the Commission staff about a possible securities law violation, including enforcing, or threatening to enforce, a confidentiality agreement […]
The Saga of the Shrinking CSAL
What’s with the shrinking Corporate Scheduling Announcement List (CSAL)? 2019 saw OFCCP give federal contractors advance notice of 4,000 compliance reviews. This included 500 Section 503 and 500 VEVRAA focused reviews, intended as streamlined audits, and 500 of the truly streamlined compliance checks. The 2021 CSAL released earlier this month notes only 750 audits. It includes […]
Fifth Circuit Declines to Take a Side in the FCA Circuit Split on DOJ’s...
A panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit recently rejected an argument advanced by two subsidiaries of a nationwide health...
Government Narrowly Avoids Invalidation of All LCDs in the Ninth Circuit
A divided panel of the Ninth Circuit recently reversed a district court decision that held that local coverage determinations (“LCDs”) are valid only when issued through a 60-day notice-and-comment rulemaking process. Agendia, Inc. v. Becerra, No. 19-56516 (9th Cir. July 16, 2021). The impact of the district court’s ruling—and a spirited dissent from the Ninth […]