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Results

An unparalleled track record taking on the titans of industry.

Recognizing the inherent complexity of the federal securities laws, clients take comfort in the fact that the team of SEC whistleblower attorneys at Labaton Sucharow has been prosecuting—and winning—high-profile securities cases for more than half a century. On behalf of courageous whistleblowers and some of the most prominent institutional investors in the world, we have recovered billions of dollars, brought precedent-setting cases and compelled sweeping corporate governance reforms that have fostered greater transparency and fairness in the markets.

Private Securities Cases
SEC Whistleblower Cases
SEC & DOJ Prosecutions
SEC Whistleblower Advocacy

Program

One of the most successful public-private partnerships in history.

In the wake of the global financial crisis, as the nation debated how to break the cycle of corporate scandals plaguing the markets, our financial watchdogs landed on two fundamental truths: The status quo wasn’t working and law enforcement could not effectively and efficiently police the marketplace without the help of private individuals.

In 2010, Congress enacted the SEC Whistleblower Program — an innovative program providing robust employment protections, monetary awards and the ability to report anonymously.

A revolution in securities enforcement began.

Fundamentals

To beat the odds, know the odds.

Every year, the SEC receives more than 20,000 tips, complaints and referrals. The most promising tips are assigned to investigators, who determine which tips warrant investigation. Only a fraction will be investigated. At any one time, the SEC can only actively investigate about 2,000 cases and those cases often take two to four years to complete. An even smaller percentage of those investigations will result in successful enforcement actions in which the monetary sanctions exceed $1 million, the threshold required for a whistleblower award.

Securities Laws

Knowledge matters.

The federal securities laws are vast, complex and rapidly changing. SEC whistleblowers deserve legal counsel who possess a deep mastery of the securities laws and extensive SEC enforcement experience. For most whistleblowers, the stakes are simply too high to risk using amateurs. With more than 50 years of private securities enforcement experience and decades of SEC prosecutorial experience, our knowledge is unparalleled.

SEC Enforcement

Case Analysis. Redefined.

We leverage market leading securities enforcement expertise and sophisticated assessment tools to provide strategic counsel to SEC whistleblowers. It's working. As of July 2017, the SEC has granted our clients the maximum whistleblower award in half of our cases.

Our research tools are incomparable. Our SEC Sanctions Database analyzes all SEC Press Releases, Litigation Releases and Administrative Summaries of successful enforcement actions since the enactment of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act that resulted in monetary sanctions in excess of $1 million, the threshold for the SEC Whistleblower Program. We also closely monitor regions, offices, investigative teams, types of violations, monetary sanctions, leadership priorities and enforcement policies.

Whistleblower Awards

It is not enough to be right about a possible securities violation.

You have to be the right person, in the right place, at the right time, and have done all of the right things to be eligible to participate in the SEC Whistleblower Program. In fact, since 2011, more than 100 well-intentioned whistleblowers have been denied awards.

Our team has conducted a comprehensive study of all prior SEC awards and denials of awards to ensure that our clients don’t assume unnecessary procedural risk. As of July 2017, none of our clients has been denied an award for failure to satisfy the SEC Whistleblower Program's many technical requirements.

International Whistleblowers

Work With Us

If you have information about a possible violation of the federal securities laws and would like to speak to a member of our Whistleblower Representation Team, please call (212) 907-0836 or electronically submit this confidential and secure case evaluation form.

All case reviews are free and we respond promptly.

Potential whistleblowers may request anonymity during their initial legal consultation. For international whistleblowers, language translation services are also available upon request.

Detailed responses to the questions below provide us with key information to begin evaluating whether a possible violation of the federal securities laws is likely to have occurred.

Back

Results

An unparalleled track record taking on the titans of industry.

Recognizing the inherent complexity of the federal securities laws, clients take comfort in the fact that the team of SEC whistleblower attorneys at Labaton Sucharow has been prosecuting—and winning—high-profile securities cases for more than half a century. On behalf of courageous whistleblowers and some of the most prominent institutional investors in the world, we have recovered billions of dollars, brought precedent-setting cases and compelled sweeping corporate governance reforms that have fostered greater transparency and fairness in the markets.

Back

Program

One of the most successful public-private partnerships in history.

In the wake of the global financial crisis, as the nation debated how to break the cycle of corporate scandals plaguing the markets, our financial watchdogs landed on two fundamental truths: The status quo wasn’t working and law enforcement could not effectively and efficiently police the marketplace without the help of private individuals.

In 2010, Congress enacted the SEC Whistleblower Program — an innovative program providing robust employment protections, monetary awards and the ability to report anonymously.

A revolution in securities enforcement began.

Back

Work With Us

If you have information about a possible violation of the federal securities laws and would like to speak to a member of our Whistleblower Representation Team, please call (212) 907-0836 or electronically submit this confidential and secure case evaluation form.

All case reviews are free and we respond promptly.

Potential whistleblowers may request anonymity during their initial legal consultation. For international whistleblowers, language translation services are also available upon request.

Detailed responses to the questions below provide us with key information to begin evaluating whether a possible violation of the federal securities laws is likely to have occurred.

Labaton Submission Security

Your submission is confidential, protected with industry-leading SSL encryption and submitted directly to the Whistleblower Representation Team.

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June 01, 2015

Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated, Merrill Lynch Professional Clearing Corporation

Trading and Pricing

SANCTION AMOUNT: $10,900,810

Defendants: Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated, Merrill Lynch Professional Clearing Corporation

Respondents utilized inaccurate data in the course of executing short sale orders. This occurred because some of these orders were processed based on stale information from Respondents' running list of easy-to-borrow securities.

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