SEC Whistleblower Reward Program

SEC Releases Whistleblower Report for 2014: The Best Year Yet

By Marlene Koury The SEC just released its 2014 Dodd-Frank Whistleblower Program report reflecting a record year in both the rewards it has paid and the tips it has received. The SEC issued whistleblower awards to more people in 2014 than in all previous years combined. And the SEC received more than 3,500 tips from whistleblowers, up by 20% from the previous couple of years. It received tips from every state and...

California Court Follows More Expansive Take on Who Can Be an SEC Whistleblower

By Jason Enzler A California federal district court ruled last week that a whistleblower is not required to report allegations of violations of the U.S. securities laws to the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) in order to qualify for protection under the Dodd-Frank Act.  In the case of Connolly v. Wolfgang Remkes, Case No. 5:14-CV-01344 (N.D. Cal. Oct. 28, 2014), the court made that decision -- and...

SEC Announces Record $30M Whistleblower Award

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team Yesterday, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced an expected whistleblower award of more than $30 million.  It will be the largest award to date under the SEC whistleblower program established in 2012 under the Dodd-Frank Act.  It surpasses the $14 million award the SEC made to great fanfare roughly a year ago.  The new award will also be the fourth award to a...

SEC Settles First Whistleblower Retaliation Case; Warns There Will Be More

By Jason Enzler The Securities and Exchange Commission announced another ground-breaking development for its whistleblower program earlier this week, releasing details on its first whistleblower retaliation case filed under the Dodd-Frank Act.  In doing so, the SEC sent an unambiguous message:  They are just getting started in going after companies that retaliate against whistleblowers. At issue was...

A Sunny Report from the SEC Whistleblower Office

By Marlene Koury The 2013 numbers are in for the Dodd-Frank whistleblower program and they are encouraging.  The SEC released its 2013 Annual Report on the program earlier this week which revealed that tips – and rewards – have increased since 2012.   The young whistleblower program is gaining steam and if it stays on course, it will no doubt be hugely successful in the coming years, perhaps even rivaling...

SEC Puts Its Money Where Its Mouth Is With $14M Whistleblower Award

By Gordon Schnell It has been more than two years since the SEC Whistleblower Office officially opened its doors.  Born out of the Dodd-Frank Act, it was created to help usher in a new day of more aggressive enforcement at an agency that up until recently many believed was very much asleep at the switch.  But with all of the fanfare surrounding the new office, and the flood of whistleblower tips that have poured...

Survey Reports Rampant Misconduct in Hedge Fund Industry

By Whistleblower Insider A recent survey of hedge fund professionals commissioned by the law firm Labaton Sucharow, HedgeWorld and the Hedge Fund Association, revealed some disappointing statistics regarding the prevalence of fraud and misconduct in the hedge fund industry.  Among the more notable findings, about a third of the professionals surveyed (30%) have witnessed misconduct in the workplace; more than a...

SEC Whistleblower Program Continues to Gain Steam With No Signs of Slowing Down

By Jason Enzler The SEC just released its second annual report on its whistleblower program (available here).  While there are no major surprises, there are some interesting facts to take away and even some trends that can be deduced.  Consistent with our report in a previous post, the number of attorneys staffing the SEC’s Whistleblower Office has doubled.  See Business Is Booming At The SEC Whistleblower...