Wells Fargo payouts should be halted in wake of ruling-U.S. lawmakers

The U.S. government should go after payouts to former Wells Fargo & Co executives involved in a scandal over unauthorized accounts now that a federal regulator has said it has the power to do so, lawmakers said on Monday.

The San Francisco-based bank reached a $190 million settlement with federal regulators after admitting employees opened as many as 2 million accounts without customer consent.

That September deal allowed Wells Fargo to make "golden parachute" payments to departing executives. But on Friday, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which oversees many federal banks, voided those terms. read more »

False Claims Act Supporters Not Upset with Senator Sessions as Attorney General

Supporters of the False Claims Act are apparently not upset with President-elect Donald Trump’s pick of Senator Jeff Sessions as Attorney General.

“Senator Sessions understands Moses came off the mountain carrying the Eighth Commandment — thou shalt not steal – and that it was not the Eighth Suggestion,” said Patrick Burns of Taxpayers Against Fraud. “He has never winked at companies that harm American workers and consumers by skirting the law, and I suspect he will understand the value of whistleblowers and whistleblower laws when it comes to fighting corporate theft and crony capitalism.  Fighting fraud is an area of bipartisan agreement. This is common ground, on which quite a lot can be built.”

Burns called Sessions “a law and order Republican” and said that “Team Qui Tam generally does okay with them.” read more »

Australian whistle owners, get ready to blow

Last night, in order to pass their two union-busting bills, the goverment made an agreement with Nick Xenophon and Derryn Hinch to introduce whistleblower protection laws in Australia.

As it stands, Australian dobbers are far more vulnerable than their overseas counterparts - the UK, France, Ireland and South Korea are all among the countries that offer to protect whistleblowers.

But that's about to change here in Australia. And Michael Hing has a list of things to expose. read more »

CFTC Releases Annual Enforcement Results for Fiscal Year 2016

Agency Filed 68 Enforcement Cases and Achieved $1.29 Billion in Monetary Sanctions Ordered

Highlights Include Successful Bench and Jury Trials, Issuance of Largest Whistleblower Award, and Significant Cases Brought Pursuant to Dodd-Frank Authority

Washington, DC - The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) today released the agency’s enforcement results for fiscal year (FY) 2016. In the fiscal year that ended in September, the CFTC filed 68 enforcement actions, which addressed a sweeping range of misconduct and market harm, and obtained orders totaling approximately $1.29 billion in restitution, disgorgement, and penalties. read more »