Securities Fraud Lawyers Blog
In the SEC’s pursuit of their mission to “protect investors, maintain fair, orderly, and efficient markets, and facilitate capital formation,” access to information about potential unlawful activity is of unique importance and interest. [1] Without access to such information, the SEC faces a much steeper battle in holding bad actors accountable and protecting both investors and the market.
In support of this broad mission, the SEC established a whistleblower program and a corresponding Office of the Whistleblower to administer the program in 2012. The whistleblower program was established under Section 922 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which added Section 21F to the Securities Exchange Act of 1924 (“the Exchange Act”). [2]
Through this statutory addition, the SEC gained authorization to make monetary awards to “eligible whistleblowers.” These “eligible whistleblowers” are individuals who voluntarily come forward to the SEC with original information about a potential federal securities law violation, which ultimately leads to a successful SEC enforcement action imposing a monetary sanction of over $1 million. [3] Importantly, the Dodd Frank Act protects the confidentiality of all SEC whistleblowers, and no identifying information that could potentially reveal a whistleblower’s identity is released to the public. [4]