ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER
New SEC Rules Favor Whistleblowers
Over $500 Million Has Been Rewarded To Whistleblowers
Whistleblowers Help SEC Recover Over $2.5 Billion
Recently, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced several rule changes expanding the rewards rules for persons who blow the whistle to the SEC on securities fraud. Individuals can be rewarded for alerting the SEC to violations of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (“Dodd-Frank”), Pub. L. 111-203, 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. The San Francisco and California SEC whistleblower attorneys at Evans Law Firm, Inc. can assist you in presenting information of fraud to the SEC. Call us today at (415)441-8669 or toll free at (888)50-EVANS(503-8267) if you have credible information of securities fraud and we can help.
Rule Changes
Under the old whistleblower rules, whistleblowers who wrote letters to the SEC chairman, filed investor complaints, or spoke to the SEC enforcement team could have been automatically disqualified from the mandatory reward because they failed to initially file a TCR (“Tip, Complaint, or Referral” Form) as their first method of communication with the SEC. The new rules allow the SEC to make rewards to whistleblowers who have not “first” filed TCRs when the record shows they are otherwise qualified for a reward. Another favorable change is that the Commission increased its own power to increase awards over a broader range of cases. The Commission rejected a proposal to automatically reduce awards of $30 million or more in large cases.
2020 Rewards Breaking Records
On September 30, the SEC announced awards[1] totaling $5 million to four individuals. These awards stem from three different orders and cap off the most prolific fiscal year in the history of the SEC Whistleblower Program. This year, the SEC made a record-setting 39 individual awards of approximately $175 million. In the first order, the whistleblower was granted a nearly $2.9 million award for alerting the SEC to hard-to-detect violations. In the second order, the whistleblower was awarded more than $1.7 million. The whistleblower, a former company insider, provided extensive assistance to the SEC’s investigation in addition to filing the initial disclosure. In the third order, two whistleblowers were awarded nearly $400,000. The whistleblowers jointly provided a tip and subsequently helped SEC staff understand key documents and identify witnesses.
Contact Us
Ingrid M. Evans and the other whistleblower attorneys at Evans Law Firm know how to present any credible evidence you have of securities fraud to the SEC ion the proper format for ultimately securing a reward if the SEC recovers money from the business violating the law. Whistleblower laws protect you from any retaliation by your employer and our attorneys can represent you in any wrongful retaliation case as well. Our lawyers also handle cases 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 toll free at (888)50-EVANS(503-8267), or email <a href=”mailto:info@evanslaw.com”>info@evanslaw.com</a>.
[1] Evans Law Firm, Inc. was not involved in these reported cases in any way.
