ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER
SEC Whistleblower Office Has Recovered $2.5 Billion
87 Individual Whistleblowers Have Been Rewarded
Even Limited Information May Result In An Award
The Whistleblower Office of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was created under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (“Dodd-Frank”), Pub. L. 111-203, in 2010. Since inception the SEC Whistleblower Office has awarded $505 million to 87 individuals whose information led to successful enforcement actions. Individuals may have information concerning any number of securities law violations for which rewards are paid, whether it’s Dodd-Frank, the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (“Exchange Act”) Rule 21F4(d), 17 C.F.R. § 240.21F-4(d)(2); the Securities Act of 1933, 15 U.S.C. §§ 77a et seq, Rule 10b-5, or any other federal securities law. 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.
Most often, the whistleblower is an insider with information of stock price manipulation, accounting or disclosure misrepresentations to investors, fraudulent trading schemes, insider trading, Ponzi schemes or other types of securities fraud. Sometimes, however, the original information is generated by “outsiders,” persons who have studied a company’s financial affairs closely, tracked trading in a company’s stock, or closely analyzed a public company’s financial reports to uncover fraudulent practices. With regard to outsider analyses, Andrew Ceresney, Director of the SEC’s Enforcement Division, noted, “The voluntary submission of high-quality analysis by industry experts can be every bit as valuable as first-hand knowledge of wrongdoing by company insiders.”
Even Limited Information Can Lead To A Reward
Even only “limited” information of securities fraud may result in an award. In its most recently announced award[1], the SEC granted $3.8 million to an individual whose information was “discrete and narrow in scope” yet “helped the Commission halt an ongoing fraud and return millions to investors.” See Exchange Act Release No. 89311, July 14, 2020. Individuals who closely follow an industry or a particular company may detect violations even in public filings that SEC staff may not catch. That kind of information may in turn lead to an investigation if brought to the agency’s attention. Whether a potential whistleblower is an “insider” or an “outsider” both are protected from any kind of employer retaliation from blowing the whistle on securities fraud. Commission Rule 21F-17(a). If you are retaliated against, our litigators can represent you in any action for wrongful employer retaliation as well as in your underlying whistleblower action.
Contact Us
In addition to SEC Whistleblower cases, Ingrid M. Evans and the other whistleblower attorneys at Evans Law Firm whistleblower attorneys handle all types of whistleblower cases 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. If you have information that may lead to a whistleblower suit of any kind, call us at (415) 441-8669, or email <a href=”mailto:info@evanslaw.com”>info@evanslaw.com</a>.
[1] Evans Law Firm, Inc. was not involved in the case in any way.
