Episode 14 - Jordan Thomas

“The Wolf Den” hosted by Dan David

This week The Pack had the pleasure of speaking with Jordan Thomas. Jordan is widely recognized as being at the pinnacle of whistleblower law in the United States. He is currently serving as a partner and chair for the Whistleblower Representation Practice at Labaton Sucharow. Before that, he was a Naval judge, DOJ trial lawyer, and assistant director to the SEC. At the SEC, he helped develop the original whistleblower program and laid the foundation for what it is today.

Jordan goes into great detail about what whistleblowers mean to the financial ecosystem and how their cases must be handled in order to best protect investors. He also describes how he sees the regulatory system progressing, and addresses what he believes the SEC must accomplish in order to better enforce its regulations.

Jordan is truly an expert on all aspects of financial regulation. Sit back, grab a drink, and enjoy the knowledge and experience that he imparts during our conversation.

1:34 Jordan breaks down his vast work experience and some of his accomplishments along the way.

4:00 Jordan’s pretty unique background and upbringing – how he found his path toward fighting corruption with strong influences from his father who was a judge, and mother who was a nun and school teacher.

10:23 Why is it that nobody gets prosecuted for fraud anymore? Jordan’s thoughts on using litigation as a deterrent.

23:49 Jordan addresses the regulatory gaps that he’d like to see corrected, and how Dodd-Frank still has a way to go.

30:30 If Jordan was in charge at the SEC - how the SEC should allocate its limited resources, and what he would do to increase the amount of trials.

41:10 Jordan’s reasoning for suing the SEC, and how the SEC moves the goalposts by changing the rules pertaining to whistleblowers and why that hurts their cause.

48:00 How fighting the good fight goes beyond wins and losses, the need for bringing more cases to trial, and how companies take advantage of the SEC’s lack of prosecution - such as Walmart’s FCPA violations.

55:22 Jordan’s thoughts on the increasingly pervasive fraud coming out of China and the difficulty in collecting from Chinese frauds. The difference between how corporations react to policy and enforcement - fines have become a slap on the wrist.

1:03:01 Jordan’s advice for investors: either be diligent or look into index funds. How one becomes a client of his practice, and why the SEC is skeptical of short sellers’ biases.