By Martin J. Weinstein, Robert J. Meyer, Jeffrey D. Clark, and Andrew English of Willkie Farr & Gallagher
Recent actions by the SEC have highlighted the importance of monitoring SEC enforcement and adjusting company policies accordingly. In this Strategic Perspective, members of Willkie Farr & Gallagher’s Compliance, Investigations & Enforcement Practice Group in Washington, D.C. discuss the cost of not keeping company confidentiality policies up to date, using the example of The Brink’s Company, the cash transit operator. Failure to update their whistleblower policy in light of the SEC’s widely-reported 2015 action against KBR, Inc. cost the company a $400,000 fine. The Brinks enforcement action makes clear, according to the authors, that the SEC continues to actively monitor companies’ compliance with required protections for whistleblowers and considers public companies to be on notice of the requirements. Read the entire Strategic Perspective here.