Enforcement Highlights

SEC’s Broken Window Enforcement Program Gets a Boost from “Quantitative Analytics” and “Algorithms”

The SEC announced last week that it had charged, in settled administrative proceedings, 28 individuals and investment firms that failed to “promptly report information about their holdings and transactions in company stock” and six public companies that contributed to “filing failures by insiders or fail[ed] to report their insiders’ filing delinquencies.” See SEC Press Release: “SEC Announces Charges Against Corporate Insiders for Violating Laws Requiring Prompt Reporting of Transactions and Holdings.” The SEC obtained a total of $2.6 million in civil monetary penalties as a result of the filed charges. The individual amounts ranged from $25,000 to $150,000. These cases are the latest example of the SEC’s focus on strict liability violations of the federal securities laws.

All of the charges arise under Sections 13(d), 13(g), and 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These sections require certain forms to be filed, irrespective of profits or the reasons for engaging in the stock transactions. Although the SEC does not need to establish that an individual or company engaged in insider trading (nor was there any finding that would suggest such) in order to prove any of the charged violations, legislative history indicates that Section 16(a) was motivated by a belief that “the most potent weapon against the abuse of inside information is full and prompt publicity” and by a desire “to give investors an idea of the purchases and sales by insiders[,] which may in turn indicate their private opinion as to prospects of the company.”

Pursuant to Section 16(a) and Rule 16a-3, company officers, directors, and certain beneficial owners of more than 10% of a registered class of a company’s stock (“insiders”) are required to file initial statements of holdings on Form 3 and to keep this information current by reporting transactions on Forms 4 and 5. Specifically, within 10 days after becoming an insider, the insider must file a Form 3 report disclosing his or her beneficial ownership of all securities of the issuer. To keep this information current, insiders must file Form 4 reports disclosing purchases and sales of securities, exercises and conversions of derivative securities, and grants or awards of securities from the issuer within two business days following the execution date of the transaction. In addition, insiders are required to file annual statements on Form 5 within 45 days after the issuer’s fiscal year-end to report any transactions or holdings that should have been, but were not, reported on Form 3 or 4 during the issuer’s most recent fiscal year and any transactions eligible for deferred reporting (unless the corporate insider has previously reported all such transactions).

Beneficial owners of more than 5% of a registered class of a company’s stock must use Schedule 13D and Schedule 13G to report holdings or intentions with respect to the respective company. According to legislative history, Section 13(d) is a key provision that allows shareholders and potential investors to evaluate changes in substantial shareholdings. The duty to file is not dependent on any intention by the stockholder to gain control of the company, but on a mechanical 5% ownership test. A Schedule 13D must be filed within ten days of the transaction, and a Schedule 13G must be filed within 10 to 45 days of the transaction, depending on the category of filer and the percentage of acquired ownership. Importantly, Section 16(a) also requires an investment adviser to file required reports of behalf of funds that it manages when the fund’s ownership or transactions in securities exceed the statutory thresholds.

Under Section 16(a), public companies are required to disclose in their annual meeting proxy statements or in their annual reports, “known” Section 16 reporting delinquencies by its insiders. This disclosure is commonly referred to as the Item 405 disclosure. The Item 405 disclosure of any late filings or known failures to file must (i) identify by name each insider who failed to file Forms 3, 4, or 5 on a timely basis during the most recent fiscal year or prior fiscal years and (ii) set forth the number of late reports, the number of late-reported transactions, and any known failure to file. An issuer does not have an obligation under Item 405 to research or make inquiry regarding delinquent Section 16(a) filings beyond the review specified in the item. Although insiders remain responsible for the timeliness and accuracy of their required Section 16(a) reports, the SEC has encouraged companies to assist their officers and directors to submit their filings, or even to submit the required form on the insiders’ behalf to ensure accurate and timely filing.

These actions make clear, however, that reliance on the company does not excuse violations as the insider retains ultimate responsibility for the filings. The majority of the charged individuals told the SEC that their delinquent filings resulted from the failure of the company to make timely filings on their behalf. In one case, disclosures in the company’s annual proxy statements relating to Section 16(a) compliance revealed that the filing of the insider reports was late because of “lack of staffing,” “late receipt of necessary information,” and “a change in the processing of these forms and delays caused by an email server malfunction.” The SEC still charged the insider because the insider took “ineffective steps to monitor whether timely and accurate filings were made” on his or her behalf by the company.

Without providing any details, the SEC claimed that it used “quantitative analytics” or algorithms to identifyindividuals and companies with especially high rates of filing deficiencies. The SEC’s filing of these actions underscores its willingness to devote resources to pursuing strict liability violations. It also demonstrates the SEC’s efforts to use quantitative analysis and algorithms to identify violations and to streamline the investigative process.

Commissioner’s Dissent May Signal Harsher Sanctions Against Accountants

Commissioner Luis A. Aguilar provided the most recent illustration of the SEC’s renewed emphasis on enforcement actions involving accounting and financial statement fraud when, on August 28, 2014, he issued a rare written dissent from the agreed-upon settlement in In the Matter of Lynn R. Blodgett and Kevin R. Kyser, CPA,File No. 3-16045 (Aug. 28, 2014). In Blodgett, the SEC charged the former chief executive officer and chief financial officer of Affiliated Computer Services, Inc. (“ACS”) with causing the company’s failure to comply with its reporting, record-keeping, and internal control obligations in violation of Sections 13(a), 13(b)(2)(A), and 13(b)(2)(B) of the Exchange Act and Rules 12b-20, 13a-1, 13a-11, 13a-13, and 13a-14 thereunder. The two senior executives collectively paid nearly $675,000 in penalties, disgorgement and prejudgment interest to settle these cease-and-desist proceedings.

According to the SEC, ACS overstated revenue by $124.5 million in fiscal year 2009 by arranging for an equipment manufacturer to redirect through ACS certain preexisting orders that the manufacturer had already received from another company. These so-called “resale transactions” created the false appearance that ACS was involved in these transactions and, in violation of generally accepted accounting principles, generated revenue that allowed ACS to meet both company and analyst growth expectations. The SEC found that the senior executives, who certified the company’s Form 10-K and Forms 10-Q during this period, “understood the origination of these ‘resale transactions’ and their impact on ACS’s reported revenue growth,” but “did not ensure that ACS adequately described their significance in ACS’s public filings and on analyst calls.” Further, the SEC found that both senior executives personally benefitted from ACS’s overstated revenues because their bonuses were tied to the company’s financial performance.

In a Dissenting Statement published concurrent with the Order, Commissioner Aguilar singled out CFO Kyser’s “egregious conduct” and characterized the settlement with him as “a wrist slap at best.” Commissioner Aguilar expressed his belief that Kyser’s actions, “at a minimum,” also violated the nonscienter-based antifraud provisions under Sections 17(a)(2) and/or (3) of the Securities Act and warranted a suspension of Kyser’s ability to appear and practice before the Commission, pursuant to Rule 102(e) of the SEC’s Rules of Practice. As Commissioner Aguilar explained:

Accountants—especially CPAs—serve as gatekeepers in our securities markets. They play an important role in maintaining investor confidence and fostering fair and efficient markets. When they serve as officers of public companies, they take on an even greater responsibility by virtue of holding a position of public trust. To this end, when these accountants engage in fraudulent misconduct, the Commission must be willing to charge fraud and must not hesitate to suspend the accountant from appearing or practicing before the Commission. This is true regardless of whether the fraudulent misconduct involves scienter.

. . . .

I am concerned that this case is emblematic of a broader trend at the Commission where fraud charges—particularly non-scienter fraud charges—are warranted, but instead are downgraded to books and records and internal control charges. This practice often results in individuals who willingly engaged in fraudulent misconduct retaining their ability to appear and practice before the Commission.

While Commissioner Aguilar’s comments may have represented the minority position in Blodgett, this public airing of differences triggered a prompt response from within the Commission. SEC Director of Enforcement Andrew Ceresney issued a press release the following day underscoring that accounting and financial fraud cases remain a “high priority” and noting that “financial reporting cases for 2014 so far have surpassed last year’s total number of cases by 21 percent.” Director Chesney also referenced the recent increase in investigations being conducted by the Financial Reporting and Audit Task Force, which the SEC formed in July 2013.

This documented upsurge in enforcement actions and investigations is consistent with the SEC’s stated policy initiatives for 2014. SEC Chair Mary Jo White warned registrants in January that the Commission would prioritize financial fraud with a particularized focus on the actions of auditors and senior executives. In doing so, she explained, the SEC intended to convey the message “that critical accounting issues are the responsibility of all those involved in the preparation and review of financial disclosures.” Now, less than eight months later, Commissioner Aguilar has sought to further strengthen this message by imposing tougher sanctions on accountants deemed to be at the center of the misconduct. Future settlements will demonstrate to the accounting industry—and the securities profession as a whole—whether his publicized appeal prompted significant change at the Commission.

Made for the U.S.A Only: Second Circuit Holds That the Dodd-Frank Act’s Antiretaliation Provision Applies Only Domestically

According to the SEC, in fiscal year 2013, foreign whistleblowers accounted for 404 of the 3,238 whistleblower reports received by the SEC (nearly 12%). Recently, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals may have significantly undermined incentives for foreign tipsters to report potential violations to the SEC.

On August 14, 2014, the Second Circuit held that the Dodd-Frank Act’s whistleblower antiretaliation provision (15 U.S.C. § 78u-6(h)(1)) does not apply “extraterritorially” and thus did not cover a foreign tipster’s allegation that he had been terminated for reporting potential Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) violations to his employer. Liu v. Siemens AG, Docket No. 13-cv-4385 (2d Cir. Aug. 14, 2014). The antiretaliation provision of the Dodd-Frank Act, which gives employees easy access to U.S. district courts, prohibits employers from retaliating against whistleblowers employees who make certain protected disclosures. The provision incentivizes reporting and facilitates the SEC’s enforcement of securities law violations.

The plaintiff Liu, a citizen and resident of Taiwan, alleged that he was fired from a Siemens Chinese subsidiary after he reported potential FCPA violations and other misconduct to his superiors. None of the alleged events related to Liu’s firing occurred in the United States. Nevertheless, Liu filed suit in the United States District Court of the Southern District of New York claiming that Siemens had violated the antiretaliation provision of the Dodd-Frank Act.

The Second Circuit affirmed the District Court’s order dismissing the complaint with prejudice and held that the Dodd-Frank Act’s whistleblower antiretaliation provision does not apply “extraterritorially.” The Second Circuit reasoned that the Dodd-Frank Act, like any statute, is presumed, in the “absence of clear congressional intent to the contrary, to apply only domestically.” Id., slip op. at 2. And the Second Circuit found “absolutely nothing in the text of the [antiretaliation] provision … or in the legislative history of the Dodd-Frank Act, that suggests that Congress intended the antiretaliation provision to regulate relationships between foreign employers and their foreign employees working outside the United States.” Id. at 12.

Because the antiretaliation provision did not extent extraterritorially, the court found that it did not cover Liu’s allegations since all events related to his termination¾the alleged misconduct, Liu’s discovery of the misconduct, and Liu’s termination¾occurred outside the United States. As such, the District Court correctly dismissed Liu’s complaint. The Second Circuit’s decision will likely impact the willingness of potential whistleblowers outside the United States to report misconduct to the SEC. Moreover, the lack of protection afforded to foreign-based whistleblower may adversely effect on the SEC’s FCPA investigations which usually involve misconduct that occurs outside of the United States. There is nothing in the Second Circuit’s decision, however, to indicate that foreign-based whistleblowers are prohibited from receiving payment under the Dodd-Frank bounty program.

While the ruling clarifies the Dodd-Frank Act’s geographical reach, it did not resolve another outstanding issue, namely whether or not Dodd-Frank applies to reports made internally, as opposed to reports made directly to the SEC.

Quarterly Whistleblower Award Update

Since our last quarterly update, the SEC’s Office of the Whistleblower (“OWB”) has issued four denial orders and three award orders. Here are some lessons learned from this activity:

• The SEC Will Not Award Whistleblowers Who Provide Frivolous Information. The SEC determined that a claimant (who submitted “tips” relating to almost every single Notice of Covered Action”) was ineligible for awards because he/she “has knowingly and willfully made false, fictitious, or fraudulent statements and representations to the Commission over a course of years and continues to do so.” Under Rule 21F-8, persons are not eligible for an award if they “knowingly and willfully make any false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation, or use any false writing or document knowing that it contains any false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or entry with intent to mislead or otherwise hinder the Commission or another authority.” 17 C.F.R. § 240.21F-8(c)(7). The OWB found that a number of passages submitted by the claimant were patently false or fictitious and that the person had the requisite intent because of the (1) incredible nature of the statements, (2) continued submissions that lack any factual nexus to the overall actions, and (3) refusal to withdraw unsupported claims at the request of the OWB. (May 12, 2104.)

• The SEC Will Enforce the Time Frames Set Forth in the Statue. The OWB denied two awards because the claimants did not submit an award claim within the 90-day period established by Rule 21F-10(b). The claimants argued that OWB should waive the 90-day period due to extraordinary circumstances. See 17 C.F.R. § 240.21F-8(a). The OWB determined that neither a lack of awareness that the information that the whistleblower had shared would lead to a successful enforcement action nor the lack of awareness that the Commission posted Notices of Covered Actions on its website constitutes an extraordinary circumstance to waive the timing requirement. See SEC Release No. 72178 (May 16, 2014) and SEC Release No. 72659 (July 23, 2014).

• Whistleblowers are Not Eligible for an Award Unless the Information Leads to a Successful Enforcement Action. The OWB denied an award to a claimant because the provided information did not lead to a “successful enforcement by the Commission of a federal court or administrative action, as required by Rules 21F-3(a)(3) and 21F-4(c) of the Exchange Act.” OWB also noted that the claimant did not submit information in the form and manner required by Rules 21F-2(a)(2), 21F-8(a), and 21F-9(a) & (b) of the Exchange Act. See In the Matter of Harbinger Capital Partners, LLC, File No. 3-14928 (July 4, 2014).

• The OWB Can Be Persuaded to Change Its Preliminary Determination. Although the OWB initially denied the whistleblower’s award claim on the basis that the information did not appear to have been voluntarily submitted within Rule 21F-4(a)(ii) because it was submitted in response to a prior inquiry conducted bya self-regulatory organization (“SRO”). In a Final Determination issued on July 31, 2014, however, the OWB determined that claimant was entitled to more than $400,000. OWB noted that a submission is voluntary if it is provided before a request, inquiry, or demand for information by the SEC in connection with an investigation by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, any self-regulatory organization, Congress, the federal government, or any state Attorney General.

On the basis of the unique circumstances of this case, the OWB decided to waive the voluntary requirement of Rule 21F-4(a) for this claimant. The SEC noted that the claimant “worked aggressively … to bring the securities law violations to the attention of appropriate personnel,” the SRO inquiry originated from information that in part described claimant’s role, claimant believed that the company had provided the SRO with all the materials that claimant developed during his/her own internal efforts, and claimant promptly reporting to the SEC that the company’s internal efforts as a result of the SRO inquiry would not protect investors from future harm. Sean McKessy, chief of the SEC’s Office of the Whistleblower, remarked that “[t]he whistleblower did everything feasible to correct the issue internally. When it became apparent that the company would not address the issue, the whistleblower came to the SEC in a final effort to correct the fraud and prevent investors from being harmed. This award recognizes the significance of the information that the whistleblower provided us and the balanced efforts made by the whistleblower to protect investors and report the violation internally.” See SEC Release No. 72727 (July 31, 2014); SEC Press Release, “SEC Announces Award for Whistleblower Who Reported Fraud to SEC After Company Failed to Address Issue Internally,” (July 31, 2014).

• SEC Continues to Make Awards to Qualified Claimants. On June 3, 2014, the SEC awarded two claimants 15% each for a total of 30% percent of the monetary sanctions collected in the covered action. See SEC Release No. 72301 (June 3, 2014). On July 22, 2014, the SEC awarded three claimants 15%, 10%, and 5% respectively (for a total of 30%) of the monetary sanctions collected in the Covered Action. See SEC Release No. 72652 (July 22, 2014).

Profits Do Not Always Equal Disgorgement

Judge Scheindlin of the Southern District of New York recently rejected the SEC’s attempt to seek disgorgement of almost $500,000,000 from Samuel Wyly and Donald R. Miller Jr., the Independent Executor of the Will and Estate of Charles J. Wyly Jr. (collectively, “defendants”). According to the SEC, this amount represented the total profit that the defendants gained from their illegal conduct, which included securities fraud in violation of Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 and failure to make certain disclosures in violation of Sections 13(d), 14(a), and 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

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Director of SEC’s Division of Investment Management Provides Insights into Agency’s View of Alternative Mutual Funds and Focus of Upcoming Sweep Exam

On June 30, 2014, in remarks to the Practising Law Institute’s Private Equity Forum, Norm Champ, Director of the SEC’s Division of Investment Management, addressed the increase in the number of mutual funds that use alternative investment strategies and the potential risks that the Division of Investment Management has identified with those strategies. See SEC Press Release. Champ’s observations are particularly relevant in light of the Office of Compliance Inspections and Examination’s (“OCIE’s”) announcement that it will conduct a national sweep exam involving between fifteen and twenty alternative mutual funds beginning this summer and continuing into the fall. According to Champ, the exams are intended to produce valuable insight into how alternative mutual funds attempt to generate yield and how much risk they undertake, in addition to monitoring how boards are overseeing the funds’ operations. To that end, Champ said that the exams will focus on liquidity, leverage, and board oversight.

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SEC Resolves First Case Under New Municipalities Continuing Disclosure Cooperation Initiative

On July 8, 2014, the SEC announced that it had settled charges that a school district in California misled bond investors about its failure to comply with its continuing disclosure obligations under Rule 15c2-12 of the Exchange Act. Pursuant to the Municipalities Continuing Disclosure Cooperation (“MCDC”) Initiative, Kings Canyon Joint Unified School District, without admitting or denying the SEC’s findings, agreed to entry of an Order (1) finding that it was in violation of Section 17(a)(2) of the Securities Act, (2) requiring it to cease and desist from violating Section 17(a)(2), (3) requiring it to establish written policies and procedures and to conduct periodic training regarding continuing disclosure obligations, and (4) requiring it to cooperate with the Enforcement Division in any subsequent investigation and to disclose the settlement in future bond offering materials. The SEC did not order any disgorgement or civil penalty.

Rule 15c2-12 requires that an underwriter obtain a written agreement from an issuer, for the benefit of bondholders, in which the issuer promises to submit certain financial information on an annual basis. This financial information is usually submitted to appropriate national and state repositories where it is available to the investing public. Notably, a broker-dealer must consider an issuer’s failure to disclose such financial information in determining whether to recommend a security and must disclose the failure to provide such financial information to customers. Rule 15c2-12 undertakings must be described in final Official Statements.

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SEC Files First Antiretaliation Enforcement Case Against Hedge Fund Advisory Firm

In a first of its kind case, the SEC last week charged an investment adviser to a hedge fund with, among other things, retaliating against an employee who reported allegedly illegal trading activity to the agency. The SEC exercised its authority under a Commission rule adopted in 2011 under the Dodd-Frank Act, which permits enforcement actions based on retaliation against whistleblowers.

Under the Exchange Act, employers may not “discharge, demote, suspend, threaten, harass, directly or indirectly, or in any other manner discriminate against, a whistleblower in the terms and conditions of employment because of any lawful act done by the whistleblower.” 15 U.S.C. § 78u-6(h)(1)(A). The Act also provides that the Commission “shall pay an award or awards to 1 or more whistleblowers who voluntarily provided original information to the Commission that led to the successful enforcement of the covered judicial or administrative action, or related action, in an aggregate amount equal to (A) not less than 10 percent, in total, of what has been collected of the monetary sanctions imposed in the action or related actions; and (B) not more than 30 percent, in total, of what has been collected of the monetary sanctions imposed in the action or related actions.” Id. § 78u-6(b)(1).

The alleged retaliation at issue centered on the investment adviser’s former head trader, who reported allegedly improper principal transactions to the SEC under the SEC’s Bounty Program. According to the SEC, the investment adviser engaged in trades with an affiliated broker-dealer on behalf of one of its hedge fund clients. The SEC alleged that the investment adviser’s owner had a conflicted role as owner of the brokerage firm while subsequently advising the hedge fund client. In an attempt to satisfy written disclosure and consent requirements, the investment adviser formed a conflicts committee to review the transactions, which consisted of the investment adviser’s CFO and chief compliance officer. The SEC alleges that the conflicts committee was also conflicted because the two-person committee reported to the investment adviser’s owner and because the investment adviser’s CFO also served as CFO of the investment adviser’s affiliated broker-dealer. As a result of this conflict, the SEC contended the investment adviser did not provide effective written disclosure to its hedge fund client, and it did not obtain consent to engage in the transactions.

According to the SEC Order, the trader subsequently informed the owner of the investment adviser that he had reported these potential securities law violations to the SEC. After the company learned of the whistleblower’s submission, it allegedly engaged in a series of retaliatory actions to strip the trader of his responsibilities. Approximately one month after doing so, the whistleblower resigned citing constructive discharge. Of note, the former trader filed a lawsuit against the investment adviser, its owner, and its affiliated broker-dealer under § 78u-6(h)(1)(B), which permits whistleblowers to bring enforcement actions, alleging unlawful retaliation, but the lawsuit was voluntarily dismissed in December 2012. It is not clear why the lawsuit was dismissed or whether the dismissal was related to a settlement.

In settling the matter with the SEC, the investment adviser neither admitted nor denied the charges. It agreed to pay $2.2 million, which includes disgorgement of $1.7 million, prejudgment interest of $181,771, and a civil penalty of $300,000. The Order expressly provides that the disgorgement relates to administrative charges relating to the principal transactions. The Order is silent, however, on whether the civil penalty of $300,000 is related to those principal transactions or has something to do with the retaliation claim. The Commission acknowledged in its order that the principal transactions were effected at the prevailing market price and the affiliated broker-dealer did not charge a markup or commission on the transactions. Significantly, the Order does not contain any finding that the funds were harmed by inadequate prices and the fact that the disgorgement relates to administrative charges strongly suggests there was a lack of monetary injury to the funds.

The SEC has authority to award the whistleblower between 10 and 30 percent of the recovery because the tip led to sanctions in excess of $1 million. According to Andrew J. Ceresney, Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement, a whistleblower is eligible for a whistleblower award. We have previously pointed out that the SEC intends to vigorously protect whistleblowers by using it authority under Dodd-Frank to bring retaliation claims against employers in a previous post: “Arbitration Agreements and Whistleblower Protections.” This case is proof.