On November 15, 2022, the SEC’s Office of the Whistleblower (OWB) released its annual report to Congress covering the period from October 1, 2021 to September 30, 2022. The report highlights a record-breaking year for the SEC’s whistleblower bounty program in certain respects, explains factors that can increase or decrease award amounts, and discusses recent … Continue Reading
On November 28, 2022, the SEC announced an award of $20 million to a whistleblower who provided new and critical information that contributed to a successful enforcement action. (The order granting the award can be accessed here.) The SEC noted that in determining the appropriate award amount, it considered that the whistleblower provided significant information … Continue Reading
On August 26, 2022, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced that it had adopted two amendments to its whistleblower program rules proposed earlier this year (see our post here). The first amendment allows whistleblowers who would have been eligible for an award under another whistleblower program that would not give them as high an … Continue Reading
On July 19, 2022, the SEC announced an award of more than $17 million award to a whistleblower who provided critical information and assistance to the SEC in a covered action and related action. (The order granting the award can be accessed here.) The SEC noted that because the same information provided led to the … Continue Reading
On February 10, 2022, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced two proposed amendments to its whistleblower program rules. As we previously reported here, a closely divided SEC adopted a final rule implementing several changes to its whistleblower program in September 2020. On January 13, 2021, a whistleblower attorney filed a lawsuit in the U.S. … Continue Reading
On November 17, 2021, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York held that a company and its CEO violated Rule 21F-17 of the Exchange Act by entering into confidentiality agreements with investors that prohibited communications with the SEC, and subsequently attempting to enforce those agreements. SEC v. Collectors Coffee Inc., No. … Continue Reading
On November 23, 2021, the SEC issued an award of $400,000 to a whistleblower who voluntarily provided the SEC with original information that assisted the agency in bringing a successful enforcement action that resulted in the termination of an ongoing Ponzi-like scheme. This award is notable in that the claimant received an award even though … Continue Reading
On November 15, 2021, the SEC published its annual report to Congress covering the period from October 1, 2020 to September 30, 2021. The report was prepared by the SEC’s Office of the Whistleblower to summarize its whistleblower bounty program, report on the program’s recent dramatic growth, and highlight key amendments to the SEC’s whistleblower … Continue Reading
On October 15, 2021, the SEC’s Office of the Whistleblower announced multi-million dollar awards to two whistleblowers who provided the SEC with information that assisted the agency in bringing a successful enforcement action. (The order granting the awards can be accessed here.) The larger of the two awards, $32 million, was awarded to the whistleblower … Continue Reading
On September 24, 2021, the SEC announced an approximately $36 million award to a whistleblower who provided critical information to the SEC that contributed to a successful enforcement action. (The order granting the award can be accessed here.) Emily Pasquinelli, Acting Chief of the SEC’s Office of the Whistleblower noted that “[w]histleblowers can act as … Continue Reading
On September 15, 2021, the SEC announced accumulated awards of over $1 billion paid to 207 whistleblowers since its first award in 2012. Over $500 million was awarded in fiscal year 2021 alone. The SEC crossed the billion-dollar milestone with awards of $110 million and $4 million to two whistleblowers on September 15, 2021. The … Continue Reading
On July 30, 2021, the SEC posted 14 Notices of Covered Actions, after which individuals have 90 calendar days to apply for a whistleblower award. As discussed in our prior post, the SEC publishes these Notices for cases in which the final judgment or order, either by itself or together with other prior judgments or … Continue Reading
On June 23, 2021, the SEC announced that Guggenheim Securities, LLC (“Company”) agreed to settle charges that it violated Rule 21F-17 by including language in its compliance manual and training materials that allegedly prohibited employees from contacting regulators without prior Company approval. Without admitting or denying the findings in the SEC’s order, the Company consented … Continue Reading
On July 21, 2021, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York held that the whistleblower protections established in SOX are not restricted to employee whistleblowers, but also extend to shareholders. SEC v. Collector’s Coffee Inc., No. 19-cv-4355. Background As we previously reported, in 2019 the SEC sued online auction portal Collectors … Continue Reading
On June 30, 2021, the SEC posted six Notices of Covered Actions, for which individuals have 90 calendar days to apply for a whistleblower award. As discussed in our prior post, the SEC publishes Notices for cases in which the final judgment or order, by itself or together with other prior judgments or orders in … Continue Reading
Fiscal year 2020 marked the ten-year anniversary of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act establishing the Securities and Exchange Commission’s whistleblower program. Since its inception through the end of FY2020, the SEC has awarded approximately $562 million to 106 individuals. Even a decade after it was created, the whistleblower program continues to … Continue Reading
On May 17, 2021, the SEC announced payment of more than $31 million to four whistleblowers who provided the SEC with information that resulted in the return of tens of millions of dollars to harmed investors. The largest of the awards, totaling almost $27 million, was awarded to two joint whistleblowers who provided the SEC … Continue Reading
On May 10, 2021, the SEC’s Office of the Whistleblower announced multi-million dollar awards to two whistleblowers who provided the SEC with information that assisted the agency in bringing a successful enforcement action against a financial services firm. (The order granting the awards can be accessed here.) The larger of the two awards, $18 million, was … Continue Reading
On April 15, 2021, the SEC announced payment of more than $50 million to joint whistleblowers who provided the SEC with information that resulted in the return of tens of millions of dollars to harmed investors. Jane Norberg, Chief of the SEC’s Office of the Whistleblower, noted that “this award is the second largest in … Continue Reading
The SEC announced on April 8, 2021 the departure of Jane Norberg, Chief of the SEC’s Office of the Whistleblower. Ms. Norberg had been with the Office nearly since its inception in 2012, serving as its first Deputy Chief and then as Chief following the departure of Sean McKessy in 2016. The SEC’s press release … Continue Reading
On January 13, 2021, a New York whistleblower attorney filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia challenging a recent final rule adopted by the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission or “SEC”) which made several changes to the SEC’s whistleblower program. The SEC Final Rule The final rule was … Continue Reading
A recent Bloomberg article reports that whistleblower complaints to the SEC have soared as employees have been working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the article, the SEC received 6,900 complaints in the fiscal year that ended on September 30, 2020 – a 31% jump from the previous 12-month record. The article discusses … Continue Reading
On October 22, 2020, the SEC announced an award of over $114 million to a whistleblower who, after reporting internally to their employer, provided the SEC with information and assistance that led to the successful enforcement of SEC and related actions. The $114 million award consists of an approximately $52 million award in connection with … Continue Reading
On September 30, 2020, the SEC’s Office of the Whistleblower announced multi-million dollar awards to two whistleblowers who provided the SEC with information that assisted the agency in bringing a successful enforcement action. (The order granting the awards can be accessed here.) The larger of the two awards, $22 million, is one of the SEC’s … Continue Reading
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