SEC fires warning shot over staff confidentiality agreements

New York

A SOUND that delights regulators and strikes fear in corporations - employees blowing the whistle on wrongdoing - is poised to become louder.

On Wednesday, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) penalised the technology and engineering firm KBR for forcing employees to sign "restrictive" confidentiality agreements, the regulator's first such action against a company suspected of stifling potential whistleblowers.