Furthermore, neither company provided detailed information about its operations in the United States.

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Neither company was forthcoming with detailed information about its formal relationships or regulatory interaction with Chinese authorities.

FORBES: House Panel: U.S. Telcos Should Shun Huawei, ZTE Hardware

According to the Financial Times, the potential violation could stem from the fact that as the number of Facebook shareholders exceeds 500, the company would be required to disclose detailed financial information, something it has managed to avoid. (See Facebook, Twitter, And The Shadow Stock Market).

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The results range from a few pages that our initial Inventory Consultant gathers to see if our product was the right fit for the customer, to pages (sometimes even dozens of pages) of highly detailed and even personal information such as individual names and roles within the company, for every account.

FORBES: Is It Possible To Gather Too Much Customer Data? No!

An attorney for Mr. Marsch confirmed that at one point Mr. Marsch did hire Mr. Minkow's firm to obtain information about wrongdoing at the company, but also said that the findings detailed in Mr. Minkow's report were protected speech covered by a litigation privilege, and that Lennar's libel suit was frivolous.

WSJ: Minkow to Plead Guilty in Lennar Insider-Trading Case