What are the requirements to obtain a monetary award under the SEC Whistleblower Program? In June, the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") announced its second largest whistleblower award of more than $17 million to a former financial services employee (the largest award of $30 million was awarded in 2014). This bounty comes after the SEC issued two awards in May. The securities watchdog continues to see a significant uptick in whistleblower claims. "The information a

Do mandatory arbitration clauses prevent class action lawsuits? The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau recently proposed a rule that would scale back mandatory arbitration clauses used by banks and other financial firms to limit their exposure to legal liabilities. While the new rule continues to allow arbitration in cases pursued by individual consumers, class actions would no longer be prevented. “Many banks and financial companies avoid accountability by putting arbitra