With the new administration, changes come to nearly every part of government, and the SEC is no exception. President Trump has nominated former SEC commissioner Paul Atkins to replace current SEC chair Gary Gensler. No hearing has yet been scheduled for Atkins, but he is expected to be confirmed.
Atkins’ Focus: Mom-And-Pop Investors
Retail investors are the most vulnerable and most frequently defrauded investors. While the Atkins SEC will continue to seek out most types of fraud, Mr. Silver and Mr. Chase believe his focus will be on these investors who are so often subject to the worst kinds of frauds: Ponzi schemes, abuses by brokers and dealers, market manipulation, and others. They also believe that there will be a flood of cases of so-called “alternative” investments that are difficult to value and resell as well as Regulation D private placements that involve excessive commissions and misappropriation of investor funds.
Scott and David also believe that there will be major changes to cryptocurrency in terms of both rulemaking and enforcement. In addition to new rules and regulations, they predict widespread changes to enforcement, which may include handing control of cryptocurrency enforcement to the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
Changes To Penalties And Fines
One possibility is the reduction of fines against large companies when specific individuals are responsible for misconduct. This would mean that companies and shareholders who were not responsible for misconduct and did not benefit from it would not be unjustly fined and punished. This is not to say that civil penalties will be eliminated but used more meticulously when examining the facts and determining the proper penalties.
How These Affect The SEC Whistleblower Program
Mr. Silver and Mr. Chase don’t believe there will be any fundamental changes to the SEC whistleblower program. The basis for paying awards will still be based on the submission of original and quality information from individuals. However, with Atkins’ pro-business vision, the dollar amount of awards paid to whistleblowers may be slightly less than they have been.
Retaining Experienced SEC Whistleblower Attorneys
SEC whistleblowers help everyone by notifying the SEC of conduct that harms the investing public, while also earning financial compensation for themselves. Hiring experienced SEC counsel may greatly increase the probability that the SEC will initiate an investigation based on your information. If you wish to remain anonymous, you must be represented by an attorney, who will submit everything on your behalf.
Silver Law Group and the Law Firm of David R. Chase jointly have experienced SEC whistleblower lawyers, including a former SEC Enforcement attorney on the team, so you will always have guidance throughout the process. Our SEC whistleblower attorneys can help you if you have information regarding securities or investment fraud, violations of federal securities laws, false filings, market manipulation, or other misconduct. You must provide timely, credible, and original information or analysis to be eligible.
Contact us through our online form or at (800) 975-4345 for a consultation. Our attorneys work on a contingency fee basis. This means that it costs you nothing to hire us, and we collect our fees only if you receive an SEC bounty. Because we get paid when you do, we have the incentive to help you collect the maximum award available.