On August 12, 2011, the Securities and Exchange Commission's June 2011 final rule creating a whistleblower incentives and protection program will take effect. The whistleblower program gives a minimum award of $100,000 to individuals who provide the SEC with high-quality tips that lead to successful enforcement actions that result in more than $1 million in sanctions. The SEC expects to receive 30,000 whistleblower tips annually.
On April 5, 2011 a Justice Department official spoke at an NCBFAA conference1, and discussed how DOJ is interpreting the facilitation payments exception to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act's (FCPA) anti-bribery provisions.
The following are trade-related highlights of the Executive Communications sent to Congress on April 12-14, 2011:
On April 12, 2011, Representative Dingell (D) introduced H.R. 1483, the Drug Safety Enhancement Act, which he states would equip the Food and Drug Administration with the authorities and resources it needs to adequately regulate the growing global marketplace for pharmaceuticals.
The Foreign Agricultural Service is requesting public comment by July 11, 2011, on its guidelines for reducing the likelihood that agricultural products or commodities imported into the U.S. are produced by child or forced labor. The voluntary guidelines include third party monitoring and verification recommendations.
The Securities and Exchange Commission is extending the comment period on its proposed rule to change the annual reporting requirements of certain issuers that file reports pursuant to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (Exchange Act), when conflict minerals originating in the Democratic Republic of the Congo or an adjoining country (DRC countries) are necessary to their product line, to March 2, 2011 (from January 31).1
The Justice Department has announced that the U.S. has filed a complaint against Boston Scientific Corp. and related Guidant entities under the False Claims Act for selling defective implantable cardioverter defibrillators, and hiding the problems from patients, doctors, and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has issued a final rule, effective January 18, 2011, which provides the final text of regulations governing the employee protection (or “whistleblower”) provisions of Section 211 of the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974, as amended; and finalizes changes to the procedures for handling retaliation complaints under Section 211 of the ERA and certain environmental whistleblower statutes.
The following are highlights of the trade-related Executive Communications sent to Congress from December 29, 2010 to January 12, 2011:
The following are highlights of comments received on the Securities and Exchange Commission’s November 2010 proposed rule on “Securities Whistleblower Incentives and Protection” to implement Section 21F of the Securities Exchange Act, as amended by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act in July 2010.