Proposed Act to Impose the "toughest penalties in history for financial fraud..."

In a speech yesterday, U.S. Representative Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas), Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, explained some details of his proposed Financial CHOICE Act.

As one might expect in an election year, Chairman Hensarling’s announcement has been met with both immediate support and criticism.  One aspect of his proposal is worth mentioning for potential SEC whistleblowers and SEC whistleblower law firms.

On page 9 of his prepared remarks for the speech, Chairman Hensarling states:

...the Financial CHOICE Act will impose the toughest penalties in history for financial fraud, self-dealing and deception.

We will double the cap for the most serious securities law violations and will allow for triple monetary fines when penalties are tied to illegal profits.  We will give the SEC new authority to impose sanctions more closely linked to investor losses – and increase punishments even more for repeat offenders.  We will increase the maximum criminal fines for both individuals and firms that engage in insider trading.

Excerpt from Chairman Hensarling's speech

Section Five of the Executive Summary of the proposed Act states that the legislation will “demand accountability from Wall Street through enhanced penalties for fraud and deception”.  According to the Executive Summary, among other things the legislation aims to:

• Impose enhanced penalties for financial fraud and self-dealing and promote greater transparency and accountability in the civil enforcement process.
• Allow the SEC to triple the monetary fines sought in both administrative and civil actions in certain cases where the penalties are tied to the defendant’s illegal profits.  Give the SEC new authority to impose sanctions equal to investor losses in cases involving “fraud, deceit, manipulation, or deliberate or reckless disregard of a regulatory requirement” where the loss or risk of loss is significant, and increase the stakes for repeat offenders.

Excerpt from the Executive Summary

Potential SEC whistleblowers and SEC whistleblower law firms might want to consider the proposed Financial CHOICE Act in conjunction with the report released by U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass) earlier this year titled “Rigged Justice: 2016, How Weak Enforcement Lets Corporate Offenders Off Easy”.

At this time there is no way to know what will ultimately become of the Financial CHOICE Act or the Rigged Justice report, or what impact they may have on SEC whistleblowers.  But they are enlightening in that, taken together, they demonstrate bipartisan support in favor of increased SEC penalties and increased accountability for corporate wrongdoers.  They also demonstrate that these issues have been taken up by prominent leaders in not one but both houses of Congress.

Increased accountability is a significant issue for potential SEC whistleblowers who want the SEC to be able to stop the wrongdoing and to save people from being victimized by the frauds that they have uncovered.

Increased SEC penalties can be significant, because under the SEC Whistleblower Award Program, if one or more whistleblowers provide information to the SEC that it uses to bring a successful action in which it collects more than $1 million from the wrongdoers, the SEC is required to give the whistleblower(s) a monetary award of between 10% - 30% of the amount of money it collects, assuming all other requirements are met.

* * *

About the Pickholz Law Offices LLC

The Pickholz Law Offices LLC is a law firm that focuses on representing clients involved with investigations conducted by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, FINRA, and other securities regulators.

The Pickholz Law Offices has represented employees, officers, and others in SEC whistleblower cases involving financial institutions and public companies listed in the Fortune Top 10, Top 20, Top 50, Top 100, Top 500, and the Forbes Global 2000. We were the first law firm ever to win an SEC whistleblower award for a client on appeal to the full Commission in Washington. Inside Counsel magazine named this achievement one of the five key events of the SEC whistleblower program. Examples of the Firm’s SEC whistleblower cases are available here.

In addition to representing SEC whistleblowers, since 1995 the Firm’s founder, Jason R. Pickholz, has also represented many clients in securities enforcement investigations conducted by the SEC, FINRA, the U.S. Department of Justice and US Attorney’s Offices, State authorities, and more. Examples of some of the many securities enforcement cases that Mr. Pickholz has been involved with are available here.

You can see what actual clients have had to say about The Pickholz Law Offices by going to the Client Reviews page on our website or by clicking here.

How to Contact the Pickholz Law Offices LLC

If you would like to speak with a securities lawyer or SEC whistleblower attorney, please feel free to call Jason R. Pickholz at 347-746-1222.

The Pickholz Law Offices remains open and will be fully operational through teleworking while we all grapple with this terrible pandemic. We hope that all of our clients, colleagues, friends, and their families remain safe and healthy. Our thoughts and prayers go out to everyone who has been affected by COVID-19.