As Mylan's stock tumbled, drugmaker's chairman was paid $97.6 million

Mylan chairman Robert J. Coury received compensation of $97.6 million in 2016, a year in which the generic drugmaker’s stock tumbled 29 percent in the wake of outrage over the pricing of its EpiPen device.

Mr. Coury’s compensation included a $20 million bonus, stock awards valued at $50.8 million, and $22.7 million in transition payments related to his departure as an officer of the company.

The pay was disclosed Monday in a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing. read more »

U.S. Senate votes to confirm Jay Clayton as SEC chairman

The U.S. Senate voted on Tuesday to confirm attorney Jay Clayton to head the Securities and Exchange Commission, the agency tasked with policing and writing rules for Wall Street.

In a 61-37 vote, the Senate approved the nomination, with some moderate Democrats joining their Republican colleagues in supporting his confirmation.

Clayton could be officially sworn in as SEC chairman as soon as Thursday. read more »

Feds sue UnitedHealth over Medicare payments

The government alleges that United failed to correct patient data in ways that would have reduced payments to the insurer.

The Justice Department has filed its own lawsuit against Minnetonka-based UnitedHealth Group in a whistleblower case alleging the health insurer wrongly received Medicare payments based on inaccurate data submissions.

The federal government announced in March that it would join the lawsuit, which was initially filed under seal in 2009 by a California man. The government was unsuccessful last month in trying to consolidate the case with a similar whistleblower lawsuit by a former UnitedHealth Group executive in Minnesota that was unsealed in February.

In a suit filed this week in a federal court in California, the government alleges that UnitedHealth Group and its subsidiaries combed through medical records to find data that might boost payments from Medicare, but did not "look both ways" to correct earlier data submissions that also generated payments.

"This action sends a warning that our office will continue to scrutinize and hold accountable Medicare Advantage insurers to safeguard the integrity of the Medicare program," Acting U.S. Attorney Sandra R. Brown for the Central District of California, said Tuesday in a statement. read more »

 

 

If Barclays CEO is shown the door, let it be for the right reason

If Jes Staley, chief executive of Barclays, ends up losing his job over the whistleblower affair, he’ll deserve no sympathy. In the post-crisis era, attempting to unmask a whistleblower is a serious offence for a bank boss.

It doesn’t matter if Staley thought the informant was making an unfounded and malicious attack on Tim Main, a recent senior recruit to Barclays’ investment bank. The critical thing is for the chief executive to respect the whistleblowing process by staying out of it. It is staggering that Staley, whether he was badly advised or not, could have made such a mistake. The regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority, is investigating and its judgment is keenly awaited. read more »

Perrigo Offices Searched by U.S. Agents in Drug Price Probe

Perrigo Co.’s offices were searched by Department of Justice agents as part of a wide-ranging U.S. investigation into possible price collusion in the generic drugs business. read more »

SEC probing Tesla's SolarCity divsion and Sunrun

The Securities and Exchange Commission is looking into whether solar companies Sunrun and SolarCity have hidden the number of customers they are losing, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.

Specifically, the SEC wants to know whether the companies are sufficiently disclosing the number of customers who cancel contracts for home solar systems, once they have signed up, the report said, citing a person familiar with the matter.

The SEC has already issued a subpoena to Sunrun and interviewed past and current Sunrun employees. The agency is "also looking at SolarCity," the paper reported. read more »