Companies have been quicker to disclose that they received Wells notices since last year, when Goldman was criticized for not having disclosed the one it received related to the S.E.C.'s mortgage security investigation.
[C7.] 7 Firms to Pay $3.65 Million Fine Seven brokerage firms have been fined $3.65 million after facing charges that they failed to disclose that they received payments for issuing research on certain companies.
Bank of America and Bank of New York Mellon have both disclosed that they received requests for information about the sale of auction-rate securities, and Merrill Lynch has said it will voluntarily repurchase $12 billion of the securities from clients.
They're also often accompanied by indefinite gag orders that prevent companies from ever disclosing that they received the letters, or notifying their users that they were targeted for surveillance.
"They're not disclosing that they have received financial remuneration to promote and target products, and that is inherently deceptive".
The legal tool bars recipients from publicly disclosing that they have received such a demand, and the Connecticut recipient has gone to court in an effort to have the restriction removed.
Just yesterday, Google disclosed that they have received 7,969 requests for information and access from the United States government in the first half of 2012.
Under the FTC's new rules, all bloggers engaging in this practice would have to disclose that they are receiving a fee for their blog post.
Since companies generally don't have to disclose that they've received third-party funding for an ISDS case, and since international arbitration usually proceeds in comparative secrecy, pursuing a claim through ISDS can shield companies from the public criticism that accompanies challenging a law in regular courts.
And, because of the security requirements, it could force companies not to disclose that they had ever received such requests.
