CBRE, the world's biggest commercial property brokerage, agreed to pay a $375,000 penalty and stop requiring employees to sign a form to receive separation pay in a protocol that federal regulators said could block whistleblowers from coming forward to report wrongdoing.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission settled civil charges against CBRE that centered on a release the brokerage firm required employees to sign between 2011 and 2022 attesting they had not filed a complaint against CBRE with any federal agency.
CBRE did not admit or deny the organization's findings. It did, however, agree to "cease and desist" from actions that could cause violations of the same whistleblower protection rule, according to the settlement. The firm, which the SEC said cooperated during the investigation, also agreed to pay the civil penalty as part of the settlement offer accepted by the SEC.
"Our separation agreements have included language that has long been the standard in release agreements for many companies," a CBRE spokesperson told CoStar News in a statement. "When the SEC contacted us, we immediately clarified our relevant language, and the agency has noted our 'high-level of cooperation' and commended our remediation efforts. We are pleased to put this matter behind us."
CBRE said it took extensive remedial actions, including revising all its domestic releases and similar agreements for compliance. The firm also notified more than 800 of its employees who had signed the release of the protections afforded to them under the rule, including communicating directly with SEC staff regarding any potential violations of federal securities laws.
"We commend CBRE for its swift and far-reaching remediation and for its high level of cooperation with our staff, which is reflected in the terms of the resolution," SEC's Fort Worth Office Regional Director Eric Werner said in a statement.