Tag Archives: SEC whistleblower program
What You Should Know About the SEC’s Whistleblower Program
For the past five years, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has run a program that offers monetary awards to any individuals who can provide useful information regarding a company’s wrongdoing. If these tips lead to SEC enforcement actions, the whistleblower could earn up to 30 percent of the total sanctions the agency levies […]
Was Richard Bowen’s Whistle Stuffed?
Five years have passed since Lehman Brothers’ bankruptcy. Richard M. Bowen III, a former Citigroup executive who blew the whistle on their bad business practices, provided 1000 pages of documents to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and 28 pages of testimony to the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (FCIC). Nevertheless, Bowen’s voice has not been […]
SEC Whistleblower Program Gets Blowing
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced August 20, 2013 that it awarded more than $25,000 in total to three whistleblowers. The SEC reports that this payment was the first installment in a series that is projected to total $125,000 for each whistleblower. Enforcement action The awards are from the SEC’s enforcement action against CEO […]
The Securities and Exchange Commission Whistleblower Program Breaks Out with a $14 Million Award
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced a $14 million award to a whistleblower whose tip led to an enforcement action. The whistleblower, who remains anonymous, gave original information to the SEC that enabled the agency to complete its investigation and enforce the matter in less than six months from receiving the tip. This is […]
SEC’s Whistleblower Program Is Waiting to Blow a Big Payout
Stephen Cohen, associate director of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Office of the Whistleblower, spent the early part of the summer blowing his commission’s whistle and promising big awards on the horizon. However, in its first three years, the SEC has made only two awards. In the first, the whistleblower received $50,000, 30 […]
Whistleblowing at the Right Time for the SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Office of the Whistleblower rejected a claim for an award earlier in the summer because it was not “original” under the SEC’s whistleblower law. The claimant originally filed a report of accounting fraud in 2006. The SEC pursued the claim and a consent judgment for penalties, disgorgement and interest […]
Blowing the Whistle and Nobody Hears
When a person assumes the role of a whistleblower to stop the illegal and fraudulent activity of a corporation or governmental agency, it is understood that there may be harsh retaliatory acts taken by the violating organization. One reaction that the whistleblower does not expect is the deafening silence that many hear when they report […]
To Blow or Not to Blow — this is the Whistleblower’s Question
Cheryl D. Eckard was drug giant GlaxoSmithKline’s (GSK) quality manager. In 2002, she was sent to the company’s primary plant in Puerto Rico to fix problems cited by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA). Eckard quickly recognized that the company’s premier drug-making facility was a disaster. She recorded and reported to senior managers that […]
SEC’s Whistleblower Program Trudges Forward
Not everyone can see the truth, but he can be it. -Franz Kafka Section 922 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the Dodd-Frank Act) amended the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 by adding the Securities Whistleblower Incentives and Protection. The new section requires that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) provide […]
