Page 8 - American College of Trial Lawyers Federal Criminal Procedure Committee 2020 Update: Recommended Practices for Companies and Their Counsel in Conducting Internal Investigations

to determine whether it is likely that such an illegal act has occurred and the effect of any illegal act
on the company’s financial statements. Auditors look to the company to investigate and evaluate
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such possible illegalities and then assess whether the company and the Board have taken “timely and
appropriate remedial actions” regarding such possible illegalities. In this regard, the methodology
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used in “10A investigations” is not materially different from an internal investigation commenced
on the company’s own initiative, and therefore, for the purposes of this paper they will be treated
collectively.

Outside of the 10A context, there are several circumstances that have traditionally
triggered the initiation of internal investigations by senior management, a Board, an audit committee
or a special committee:

a. Receipt of a whistleblower communication that raises allegations of
misconduct by senior or significant members of management;

b. Shareholder demand in the nature of an actual or threatened
derivative action against directors and officers, possibly leading to formation of a Special Litigation
Committee;

c. Allegations of misconduct raised by independent audit, internal audit,
or compliance;

d. Board member suspicion of misconduct by officers or employees;

e. Receipt of a subpoena or informal request for information by a
government or self-regulatory organization (“SRO”), or an announcement by a government agency or
SRO of suspicions of misconduct by the company or industry; or

f. Allegations of misconduct by the media, watchdog groups, or
academics.

In addition, the “reporting up” provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 require
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in-house and outside counsel to ensure that the company takes appropriate steps in response to
allegations of wrongdoing, while the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act
of 2010 incentivizes companies to respond rapidly to internal reports of wrongdoing.
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B. External Factors, Such as the Existence or Anticipated Existence of a Parallel
Government Investigation or Shareholder Lawsuit, Should Be Considered
When Making Decisions about How to Conduct and Document an Internal
Investigation

2 Exchange Act § 10A(b)(1), codified at 15 U.S.C. § 78j-1(b).
3 Id. at § 78j-1(b)(2)(B).
4 Sarbanes-Oxley Public Company Accounting Reform and Corporate Responsibility Act, codified at 15 U.S.C.§§ 7201-7266.
5 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, codified at 12 U.S.C. §§ 5301-5641.

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