What To Do When Your Board Gets a Complaint
Both the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and later, the Dodd-Frank Act, contain provisions protecting whistleblowers reporting violations of securities laws, and in fact, the Dodd-Frank Act seems to encourage such reporting with well defined monetary rewards for complaints leading to successful fines against a company. In September of 2014, an unnamed whistleblower was awarded a $30 million grant.
In light of a recent $30 million whistleblower award and the Dodd-Frank Act encouraging more people to report problems at their companies to the government, how should a bank board handle a whistleblower claim?
First, have a whistleblower policy/program in place, now, so that if/when a claim arises, the board is prepared to handle it effectively, appropriately and lawfully. All employees should be trained on the policy and encouraged to report up the chain, pursuant to the policy, any corporate misconduct they discover. It is far better in the end if the bank self-discovers and remedies the problem, than if the government does it for you. Second, work hard to maintain the confidentiality of the whistleblower. Maintaining confidentiality, and even anonymity, helps to ensure no retaliatory action is taken against the reporting employee. At all costs, avoid retaliation. Finally, conduct an independent internal investigation, and do so with the understanding that the reported misconduct could lead to criminal and/or civil litigation. Engage your legal counsel early in the process to ensure preservation of evidence and legal privileges.
—Michael Dailey, Dinsmore & Shohl LLP
Banks should handle possible whistleblower complaints very seriously. Regulatory agencies have shown a more severe response to banks over the last few years and whistleblower complaints can reinforce a perception, however inaccurate, that some banks do not have a proactive approach to compliance issues generally. Banks should have procedures for dealing with such claims and allow employees to air their concerns without fear of reprisal. Some may wonder whether this approach may encourage the raising of false claims, but at least banks would have an opportunity to triage employee concerns and demonstrate that they take those concerns seriously.
—Donald N. Lamson, Shearman & Sterling LLP
Bank boards should authorize their audit committees to handle complaints concerning securities law violations. An audit committee’s charter should make clear that the committee may retain appropriate advisors to investigate such complaints. The board should also ensure that management promulgates guidance for internal reporting on violations. Employees should be encouraged to report violations to appropriate representatives of the compliance, internal audit or legal staff. Recipients of complaints about violations should be instructed to forward them to the chairperson of the audit committee. Upon receipt of a complaint, the chairperson should ensure that it is investigated thoroughly. If no violation is found, the complainant should be so informed within 120 days after the complaint was made. If a securities violation is found, the bank should decide whether to report the violation to the Securities and Exchange Commission. A report to the SEC should be made within 120 days after the complaint was made.
—Kathleen N. Massey, Dechert LLP
Both public and private banks have potential exposure to Dodd-Frank and Sarbanes-Oxley whistleblower claims. Therefore, a bank should have proper compliance and anti-retaliation policies in place (reviewed regularly) setting forth behavioral expectations, encouraging reporting, and establishing protocols for handling reports. The bank should also designate a team to investigate and respond to reports. All employees should be thoroughly trained regarding these policies and, in particular, managers should be trained to identify when an employee is reporting and the need to escalate the report within the organization, as many employees do not use “hotlines” or Internet-based reporting mechanisms. Most important, the bank’s senior leadership must lead by example. Senior leadership needs to sincerely and repeatedly promote the virtues of the bank’s compliance, ethics and code of conduct policies. Reporting questionable conduct, no matter how insignificant, must be genuinely encouraged. And finally, senior leaders must demonstrate integrity in all that they do.
—Jonathan J. Wegner, Baird Holm LLP
Whistleblower complaints need to be treated seriously. Avoid the temptation to view all whistleblowers as disgruntled employees who are asserting claims against innocent individuals to further their own selfish goals. Failure to promptly address a legitimate complaint will only exacerbate the problem. Regulators look favorably on companies that take prompt action and see them as having strong and effective management. The opposite is true for companies that are unresponsive or hostile to employees’ concerns. Plus, treating whistleblower complaints seriously sends the message that employees will be treated fairly and sets a tone at the top that should foster stronger ethical behavior within the company. The board needs policies and procedures for investigating whistleblower complaints and coordinating corrective action and must communicate them to employees. Doing so will create the conditions necessary for the effective management of whistleblowing.
—Aaron Kaslow , Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP