MoneyOver the past week, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced two multi-million dollar awards to whistleblowers who provided the SEC with information in ongoing investigations.

On May 13, 2016, the SEC announced that it had awarded $3.5 million dollars to a whistleblower who provided useful information for an “ongoing investigation.”  Then, on May 17, 2016, the SEC announced that it will issue an award between $5 and $6 million, its third highest in history, to another whistleblower.  According to the SEC, a “former company insider” provided a detailed tip which “led the agency to uncover securities violations that would have been nearly impossible for it to detect but for the whistleblower’s information.”  Andrew Ceresney, Director of Enforcement for the SEC stated that when employees – who are often well-positioned to identify wrongdoing – “report specific and credible tips to us, [the SEC] will leverage that inside knowledge to advance [its] enforcement of the securities laws and better protect investors and the marketplace.”

These two awards reaffirm the SEC’s intent to encourage whistleblowers to come forward and provide useful information to the agency.  They further highlight the fact that the Securities Exchange Act, as amended by Dodd-Frank, and its implementing regulations authorize the SEC to provide a monetary award to a whistleblower who provides the SEC with new information prompting a new or renewed investigation or “significantly contributes to the success” of an enforcement action.

 

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Photo of Lloyd B. Chinn Lloyd B. Chinn

Lloyd B. Chinn is a partner in the Labor & Employment Law Department and co-head of the Whistleblowing & Retaliation Group. He litigates employment disputes of all types before federal and state courts, arbitration tribunals (e.g., FINRA, JAMS and AAA), and before administrative…

Lloyd B. Chinn is a partner in the Labor & Employment Law Department and co-head of the Whistleblowing & Retaliation Group. He litigates employment disputes of all types before federal and state courts, arbitration tribunals (e.g., FINRA, JAMS and AAA), and before administrative agencies in New York and across the country. Lloyd’s practice ranges from litigating compensation disputes to defending whistleblower, discrimination and sexual harassment claims. Although he represents employers in a wide range of industries, including law, insurance, health care, consulting, media, education and technology, he focuses a substantial portion of his practice on the financial services sector. He has tried to final verdict or arbitration award substantial disputes in this area.

Due to Lloyd’s litigation experience, clients regularly turn to him for advice regarding the full range of employment matters, including terminations, whistleblower policy and procedure, reductions in force, employment agreements, and employment policies. For example, in the wake of the financial crisis, he has counseled a number of firms through reductions in force and related bonus and deferred compensation disputes. Lloyd has also been retained to conduct internal investigations of allegations of workplace misconduct, including claims leveled against senior executives.

Lloyd has represented global businesses in matters involving Sarbanes-Oxley and Dodd-Frank whistleblower claims. He has taken an active role in the American Bar Association on these issues, currently serving as Co-Chair of the Whistleblower subcommittee of the ABA Employee Rights and Responsibilities Committee. Lloyd has spoken on whistleblowing topics before a numerous organizations, including the American Bar Association, ALI-ABA, Association of the Bar of the City of New York, and New York University School of Law. He has testified twice before Congressional subcommittees regarding whistleblower legislation and has also published blog postings, articles and client alerts on a variety of topics in this area, including the Dodd-Frank Act’s whistleblower provisions. Lloyd is a co-editor of Proskauer’s Whistleblower Defense Blog, and he has been widely quoted by on whistleblower topics by a number of publications, including the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the National Law Journal and Law 360.

Lloyd has also become active in the International Bar Association, presenting on a variety of subjects, including: the #MeToo movement, the COVID-19 pandemic and employment law, and cross-border harmonization of employment provisions in transactions. Lloyd also hosts a quarterly roundtable discussion among financial services industry in-house employment lawyers. He has also published articles and given speeches on a variety of other employment-law topics, including non-solicitation provisions, FINRA arbitration rules, cross-border discovery, e-discovery, and the use of experts.