SEC Awards Whistleblowers Whose Information Helped Stop Fraud

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced two whistleblower awards in connection with two separate enforcement actions.  Both whistleblowers provided significant information that helped the SEC shut down two separate fraudulent schemes preying on retail investors.

The SEC has awarded approximately $387 million to 72 individuals since issuing its first award in 2012.  All payments are made out of an investor protection fund established by Congress that is financed entirely through monetary sanctions paid to the SEC by securities law violators.  No money has been taken or withheld from harmed investors to pay whistleblower awards. read more »

Apple’s anti-tracker feature in Safari did just the opposite, say Google researchers

FAST COMPANY

An Apple feature so privacy-minded it upset the ad industry also could have been exploited by hackers to reveal what you do as you browse the web, Google researchers claim in a paper described by the Financial Times.

According to the report, Google researchers discovered worrying flaws in the Safari web browser. The flaws were found, counterintuitively, in a feature made to protect Safari users from invasive ad-tracking technology. Google disclosed the issues to Apple last August, and Apple appeared to have addressed them in December. read more »

PwC executive leaves firm after Dos Santos revelations

BBC

A top PWC executive has left the firm after revelations of PwC links with Isabel Dos Santos, who is under investigation for corruption. read more »

PwC under growing scrutiny as scandal engulfs Isabel dos Santos

THE GUARDIAN

PwC, the global accounting firm battling to distance itself from a financial scandal engulfing Africa’s richest woman, Isabel dos Santos, was auditing the books of Angola’s state oil company during a period that is now under criminal investigation.

Critics says PwC’s work for Sonangol, the government-owned oil group that underpins Angola’s economy, raises conflict of interest concerns because the firm appears to have been retained to check the company’s accounts while at the same time collecting fees to advise on a major restructure. read more »