ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER
Securities and Exchange Commission Rewards Whistleblowers
Any Securities Fraud Can Be The Basis of a Whistleblower Case
Awards Under Dodd-Frank Act Growing
In June, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) awarded $50 million to an individual whistleblower who provided detailed, firsthand observations of misconduct by a company, which resulted in a successful SEC enforcement action that returned a significant amount of money to harmed investors.* Securities fraud includes insider trading, inadequate or deceptive disclosures, licensing deficiencies, offshore banking fraud. registration violations, accounting fraud, fraudulent SEC filings, and more. See Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (“Dodd-Frank”), 15 U.S.C. § 78u-6(b); Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (“Exchange Act”) Rule 21F4(d), 17 C.F.R. § 240.21F-4(d)(2); Securities Act of 1933 (“Securities Act”), 15 U.S.C. §§ 77a et seq. This is the largest amount ever awarded to one individual under the SEC’s whistleblower program. If you have credible, original information of securities fraud in California call our San Francisco and California SEC whistleblower attorneys today at (415)441-8669 and we can help.
In announcing the award, Jane Norberg, Chief of the SEC’s Office of the Whistleblower stated, “This award marks several milestones for the whistleblower program. This award is the largest individual whistleblower award announced by the SEC since the inception of the program, and brings the total awarded to whistleblowers by the SEC to over $500 million, including over $100 million in this fiscal year alone. Whistleblowers have proven to be a critical tool in the enforcement arsenal to combat fraud and protect investors.” The SEC has awarded over $500 million to 83 individuals since the inception of the SEC Whistleblower program in 2012.
Retaliation Protections
Federal law protects whistleblowers from employer retaliation for blowing the whistle on securities fraud under Dodd-Frank, the Exchange Act, the Securities Act of 1933, 15 U.S.C. §§ 77a et seq, Rule 10b-5, or any other federal securities law. See 15 U.S.C. § 78u-6(h)(1); 17 CFR § 240.21F-2; Commission Rule 21F-17(a). If your employer retaliates against you in violation of the statute, you can bring an action in federal court seeking reinstatement, double back pay with interest, and attorneys’ fees and costs. 15 U.S.C. § 78u-6(h)(1)(B) and (C). Our litigators can represent you in your action for wrongful retaliation as well as in your underlying SEC whistleblower case.
Contact Us
Ingrid M. Evans and the other whistleblower attorneys at Evans Law Firm know how best to organize your information and documentation and will guide you through investigation, reporting, and discovery to trial or settlement. Our California whistleblower attorneys handle all types of whistleblower cases in addition to SEC cases. If you have information regarding a whistleblower/qui tam case in San Francisco or elsewhere in California involving allegations under the federal or California False Claims Acts, the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act of 1989 (FIRREA), the Bank Secrecy Act, the Internal Revenue Service Whistleblower Office, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission Whistleblower Office, the FINRA Whistleblower Office or other government agency whistleblower programs, contact the California whistleblower attorneys at Evans Law Firm at (415) 441-8669, or by email at <a href=”mailto:info@evanslaw.com”>info@evanslaw.com</a>. Our attorneys also have experience with complex financial contracts and large insurance companies. We can help guide your case through filing a complaint, investigation and discovery through trial or an equitable settlement. We also handle cases involving physical and financial elder abuse, nursing home abuse, whole life insurance and universal life insurance, and indexed, variable, and fixed annuities.
*Evans Law Firm, Inc. was not involved in the reported case in any way.
