The SEC on Friday said that in addition to not maintaining adequate internal controls, Activision Blizzard violated an agency whistleblower protection rule when it requested that former employees disclose in their separation agreements whether they had received a request for information from SEC.
“Moreover,” Burt said, “taking action to impede former employees from communicating directly with the commission staff about a possible securities law violation is not only bad corporate governance. It is illegal.”
Activision Blizzard agreed to a cease-and-desist order and to pay the $35 million penalty but did not admit or deny the SEC’s findings.
