On September 9, 2024, the SEC announced settled enforcement actions against seven companies for violating the SEC’s whistleblower rules.[1] Specifically, the SEC alleged that the companies had provisions in various kinds of agreements with employees, including employment, separation, and settlement agreements, that purport to restrict, and thereby could potentially discourage, employees and other signatories from reporting information to government investigators or participating in a whistleblower award.Continue Reading SEC Enforcement Sweep Reaffirms Focus on Anti-Whistleblower Provisions in Employee Agreements
Matthew Franker
Matt Franker has twenty years of experience advising public and private companies, underwriters, and boards of directors in capital markets offerings, securities disclosure and financial reporting, including disclosures relating to non-GAAP financial measures, accounting for business combinations and other technical accounting issues, corporate governance and ESG matters, mergers and acquisitions, and general corporate issues.
Matt has been recognized in Legal 500 for his work on capital markets transactions, and his capital markets experience includes advising companies and underwriters on registered and exempt offerings of common and preferred equity securities and investment grade, high-yield and convertible debt securities, exchange offers, debt tender offers, and consent solicitations. Matt has an extensive securities advisory practice focused on assisting public companies in a wide variety of disclosure, corporate governance, and compliance matters.
Prior to joining Covington, Matt served as an attorney-adviser with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's Division of Corporation Finance. While at the SEC, he worked on a wide variety of transactional and securities compliance matters, with an emphasis on the manufacturing, construction, and financial services industries. His experience at the SEC focused on IPOs, secondary offerings, mergers and acquisitions, exchange offers, going-private transactions, PIPEs and private equity financings and evaluating no-action requests to exclude shareholder proposals under Exchange Act Rule 14a-8.