The Dodd-Frank Act affects almost every facet of America’s financial services industry. The Act empowers regulators to use their discretionary authority to write and interpret new rules. Accordingly, regulators will gain new authority to control and liquidate troubled financial firms if their failure poses a significant risk to the financial stability of the United States.
There are, however, certain portions of the Act that may have a major impact on criminal justice. For instance, there are new criminal statutes contained in the Act. But of special note, one of the more controversial aspects of the Act is the incentive system that has been setup for whistle-blowers. A knowledgeable San Francisco white collar criminal attorney can review the effects of the Act with you as it pertains to your situation.
What Dodd-Frank does is enlarge the universe of entities and individuals who are subject to existing laws. One of the new criminal sanctions is Section 202(a)(1)(C), which provides for a penalty of up to a maximum of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine for carelessly disclosing the existence of a negative investigation in relation to a financial institution. The reasoning behind this is clear – for the Government to be more aggressive in identifying at-risk institutions, investigations must be confidential. If you need a free initial consultation with a San Francisco white collar attorney, contact Christopher Morales by filling out the form on this page.
