Since 2011, Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP (HBSS) has been representing Haim Bodek, a whistleblower who has helped the Securities and Exchange Commission crack down on unjust practices. In March, under the legal advisement of HBSS, Bodek provided information that led to a near-record $14 million civil penalty against the New York Stock Exchange and two affiliated exchanges in part for NYSE’s failure to disclose material aspects of the operation of its exchanges, specifically its order types.
“Hagens Berman’s SEC whistleblower client Haim Bodek teamed up to investigate and develop information and analysis that was brought to the SEC for investigation of alleged unlawful order type operations at NYSE that were undisclosed by the exchange,” said Shayne Stevenson, partner and head of the whistleblower practice at HBSS, who represented Bodek. “The information provided by Dodd-Frank whistleblower Haim Bodek helped lead to this successful SEC enforcement action.”
In March 6 statement, the SEC announced settlement of charges against NYSE and two affiliated exchanges for several regulatory failures. NYSE and its affiliated exchanges have agreed to pay a $14 million civil penalty. NYSE’s securities law violations settled with the SEC include failure to disclose material aspects of its operation of exchange order types, specifically violating Section 19(b)(1) of the Exchange Act, according to the SEC.
This fine against NYSE is not the first successful whistleblower claim brought by Bodek and Hagens Berman. In January 2015, the SEC announced that two exchanges formerly owned by Direct Edge Holdings (and since acquired by BATS Global Markets, the second-largest financial exchange in the country) agreed to pay a record-breaking $14 million penalty to settle charges that the exchanges failed to accurately and completely disclose how order types functioned on its exchanges, and for selectively providing such information only to certain high-frequency trading firms.
“Mr. Bodek’s continued whistleblowing activity helps protect investors and showcases the effectiveness of the SEC whistleblower program and the great work being done by SEC Enforcement in policing our exchanges,” Stevenson said.