In a January 30, 2022 letter to SEC Chair Gensler, eight State treasurers requested that the SEC investigate Apple’s nondisclosure agreements and whether Apple misled the SEC about their use of nondisclosure provisions in employment and post-employment agreements. According to the January 30th letter, “multiple news reports have stated that whistleblower documents demonstrate Apple uses the very concealment clauses it repeatedly claimed it does not use . . .” The January 30th letter also points out the importance of permitting employees to report unlawful conduct and the need for shareholders to have accurate information about workplace culture.
The SEC can investigate whether Apple’s alleged use of concealment clauses in agreement and policies violates the SEC’s anti-gag rule, which prohibits any “person” from taking “any action to impede an individual from communicating directly with the Commission staff about a possible securities law violation, including enforcing, or threatening to enforce, a confidentiality agreement . . . .” Exchange Act Rule 21F-17, 17 C.F.R. § 240.21F-17.
The purpose of the anti-gag rule is to facilitate the disclosure of information to the SEC relating to possible securities law violations. As explained in the release adopting the SEC’s whistleblower rules, “an attempt to enforce a confidentiality agreement against an individual to prevent his or her communications with Commission staff about a possible securities law violation could inhibit...
A nursing home run by the family of Kim Keon-hee lost the first trial in a lawsuit seeking to cancel the National Health Insurance Service's disposition to claw back about 1.4 billion won in long-...