Albemarle to Pay Over $218M to Resolve Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Investigation

DOJ

Albemarle Corporation (Albemarle), a publicly-traded specialty chemicals manufacturing company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, has agreed to pay more than $218 million to resolve investigations by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) into violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) stemming from Albemarle’s participation in corrupt schemes to pay bribes to government officials in multiple foreign countries. read more »

SEC Charges D. E. Shaw with Violating Whistleblower Protection Rule

SEC

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced settled charges against New York-based registered investment adviser D. E. Shaw & Co., L.P. for raising impediments to whistleblowing by requiring employees to sign agreements prohibiting the disclosure of confidential corporate information to third parties, without an exception for potential SEC whistleblowers, and by requiring departing employees to sign releases affirming that they had not filed any complaints with any government agency in order for the employees to receive deferred compensation. D. E. Shaw agreed to pay $10 million to settle the SEC’s charges. read more »

SEC Charges 10 Firms with Widespread Recordkeeping Failures

SEC

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced charges against five broker-dealers, three dually registered broker-dealers and investment advisers, and two affiliated investment advisers for widespread and longstanding failures to maintain and preserve electronic communications. The firms admitted the facts set forth in their respective SEC orders and acknowledged that their conduct violated recordkeeping provisions of the federal securities laws. The firms agreed to pay combined penalties of $79 million as outlined below and have begun implementing improvements to their compliance policies and procedures to address these violations. read more »