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Legal Court to Look at Standards in Whistleblower Case The Supreme Court has agreed to consider restricting certain whistleblower lawsuits claiming that local governments misused federal money.   Ethics & Compliance Insights newsletter Online CLE's

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General Counsel as CCEO? Not an Obvious Answer Whether the general counsel (GC) should also serve as the chief compliance and ethics officer (CCEO) has been a very hot topic on the Society of Corporate Compliance & Ethics' Social Network. Read the related article from the June 2009 issue of Compliance and Ethics Magazine, featuring SmartPros' own ethics officer, Catherine Finamore Henry. Claim Against BDO Tossed A Miami-Dade judge tossed out a claim seeking to hold BDO International responsible for $351 million in punitive damages awarded to a bank for an accounting firm's failure to uncover fraud at a company it audited. SEC Charges Madoff-Linked Firm, Adviser with Fraud Federal regulators on Monday charged a New York brokerage firm said to be secretly controlled by Bernard Madoff and a prominent California investment adviser with securities fraud, accusing them of funneling billions of dollars from investors into Madoff's Ponzi scheme. Jury in Michigan Sides with SEC in Kmart Case The former head of Kmart Corp., who told jurors he was hired to save the venerable retailer, was found liable Monday for misleading investors about company finances before a bankruptcy filing in 2002. Three-Quarters of Survey Participants Report Increased Concern over Violating Anti-bribery Law Background checks led to renegotiation, withdrawal from deals, partnerships and investments. Corporate Legal Spending to Rebound Strongly in Second Half of 2009 New study on corporate legal spending shows that the renewed spending is isolated to specific practices areas and firms. SEC Charges Ex-Countrywide CEO Mozilo with Fraud Angelo Mozilo, the man who rode the housing boom to build Countrywide Financial Corp. into a California colossus of high-risk mortgage lending, has been charged with civil fraud and illegal insider trading by federal regulators who accuse him of deceiving shareholders and profiting on confidential information. SEC Charges Madoff-Linked Firm, Adviser with Fraud Federal regulators on Monday charged a New York brokerage firm said to be secretly controlled by Bernard Madoff and a prominent California investment adviser with securities fraud, accusing them of funneling billions of dollars from investors into Madoff's Ponzi scheme. Three-Quarters of Survey Participants Report Increased Concern over Violating Anti-bribery Law Background checks led to renegotiation, withdrawal from deals, partnerships and investments. Tracking Down Fraud Is Now in Demand Patrick Taylor is a conniving worker's worst nightmare. The Atlanta fraud expert is called upon a lot these days to help companies sniff out fake sales transactions, bogus expense reports, illegal kickbacks and those trying to cook the company books. Should You Consider Arbitration? A common complaint about our judicial system, both civil and criminal arenas, is that far too many cases are clogging the courts. Is arbitration the key to unclogging them? Potential Swine Flu Pandemic Can Cause Legal and Ethical Challenges The Swine Flu "pandemic" poses serious legal and ethical challenges for businesses and public and private agencies that respond with emotion rather than common sense, a leading Chicago immigration attorney warned Monday. SEC Chief Speeding Penalty Process for Violations The new head of the Securities and Exchange Commission is ending a practice that she said had slowed the agency's enforcement efforts against corporate wrongdoing. Free Access to Federal, State Rules on Layoffs, Plant Closings Because of the crisis in the global economy, employers are being forced to reduce staffing levels or cease operations. Employers who are not careful will face multiple legal compliance issues. OP/ED: Good News, Greater Opportunity There's a lot of good news about lawyers in the recently released pro bono study from the American Bar Association. But more important, the study provides good new for the consumer of legal services. FDIC: Shell and Shelf Companies as Vehicles for Fraud The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) was recently alerted by the Better Business Bureaus of possible fraudulent or improper activity involving businesses advertising that they can assist borrowers, who may not otherwise be able to qualify for a loan, obtain an unsecured business line of credit. Five Things to Know When Top Execs Buy or Sell Stock Insider stock transactions, not to be confused with insider trading, are legal and frequent moves that can provide useful information to investors trying to assess a company's prospects. SEC Charges KBR and Halliburton for FCPA Violations KBR and Halliburton have agreed to pay $177 million in disgorgement to settle the SEC's charges. Kellogg Brown & Root LLC has agreed to pay a $402 million fine to settle parallel criminal charges brought today by the U.S. Department of Justice. The sanctions represent the largest combined settlement ever paid by U.S. companies since the FCPA's inception.

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