Whistleblowers on Wall Street Could Earn Share of $425 Million Pot

Since the establishment of the SEC Whistleblower Program, there have been a lot more highly publicized cases of whistleblowers coming forward and revealing wrongdoing within their organizations, specifically in regard to fraudulent activity. Awards through the SEC have been reaching record levels this year, with one person coming away with a $30 million settlement after exposing fraud within their company.

However, it would seem that Wall Street employees have not fully tapped into the potential to earn their share of the money available for whistleblowers, which is currently at an estimated $425 million.

In a survey conducted last year, approximately 52 percent of all financial professionals believed that their competitors were engaging in some form of fraud or unethical business practice. Additionally, 23 percent of all people who responded to the survey knew firsthand that their own organization was partaking in some form of wrongdoing. Finally, 90 percent of respondents said that if they were given the protections afforded to whistleblowers under the SEC program, they would be willing to report wrongdoing if they knew about it.

While the last couple years have seen the amount of whistleblower tips increase, particularly those sent directly to the SEC, it would seem based on these survey results that there is still some significant untapped potential for whistleblowers on Wall Street to earn money by alerting the authorities to fraud or unethical business practices within their companies.

If you believe that your company is engaged in unethical business practices, contact the Dallas lawyers at Whistleblower Law for Managers to discuss your next steps as you consider reporting infractions.