Beware What You Share: Privilege Waiver Risks in Investigations

In responding to regulatory and government investigations, firms are often faced with the question of how to balance the desire to cooperate with the need to preserve privilege over an internal investigation.  Financial institutions face this question additionally in their reporting requirements to regulators, including Form U-5 filings and Suspicious Activity Reports.  Two recent decisions illustrate the risk of a waiver of privilege when a firm provides information relating to witness or client interviews. In…