May 2015 archive

Court Requires Expert Witness to Have a Body and a Brain

A recent case addressed the interesting question of whether a corporation could serve as an expert witness.  The matter involved a breach of fiduciary duty case coordinated with an appraisal proceeding, in re Dole Food Company (“Dole”).  The defendants designated Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated (“Stifel”), a corporation, to serve as their expert witness regarding …

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GAO Tells SEC to Look in the Mirror Regarding Internal Control Failures

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (“GAO”), a government watchdog group, recently reported the results of its 2014 audit of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) financial statements.  The findings included (i) troubling reports of internal control failures at the very agency tasked with policing the reporting activities of others and (ii) warnings of vulnerability to …

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IRS Workers Found to Have Evaded Tax Payment

A recent report indicated that over a 10 year period approximately 1,600 Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) employees willfully evaded their tax obligations.  The wrongful activity included: failing to file timely claiming improper dependents claiming improper first-time homebuyer credits  

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Compliance Officer Gets Whistleblower Award

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) recently announced an award of $1.4 – $1.6 million provided to a compliance officer of a large company. Neither the company’s nor the officer’s name was made public due to confidentiality laws, but the information was reported to having pertained to significant financial harm to the company and/or …

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