SEC Whistleblower Lawyer Blog

April 12, 2019

SEC gives $50 Million to Two Whistleblowers

On March 26, the SEC announced that it was going to award a total of $50 million to two whistleblowers who assisted in an enforcement action. They provided the SEC with very important information which allowed the SEC to take action. One whistleblower was awarded $13 million, and the other one was awarded $37 million. The $37 million is the SEC’S third-highest award.

This situation shows how important whistleblowers are to the SEC. This investigation, and other previous investigations, would have never come to resolutions without information from whistleblowers. Continue reading

January 18, 2019

Trevor Murray Seeks $3.2M in Attorney Fees in a Securities Whistleblower Claim Against UBS

by Silver Law Group

us-dollars-money-300x300 Trevor Murray, an ex-UBS AG analyst, is asking a New York federal judge to award him $3.2 in attorneys’ fees from a lawsuit he filed against his former employer. Murray is claiming that federal securities law requires the bank to allocate the funds to him.

Murray was victorious in his almost seven-year fight with the bank after he was allegedly fired in 2012 for his complaints. He was allegedly complaining that he was being pressured to falsify a report to better market conditions to boost UBS’ revenue numbers, in order to attract more investors. Both of the law firms that represented him in that case have asked for fees for their work.

Murray has stated that, since he’s won a jury verdict in this case, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act provides that his legal bills.

December 20, 2018

SEC Awards Approximately $4 Million to Overseas Whistleblower

by Silver Law Group

CFTC-to-Issue-Whistleblower-Award-of-Approximately-290000-1024x711-300x208 The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced on September 24, 2018 that it has awarded nearly $4 million to an overseas whistleblower.

The overseas whistleblower provided a tip that led the SEC to open an investigation. Further, the overseas whistleblower’s assistance helped the SEC bring a successful enforcement action.

This is one of the few instances in which the SEC issued a whistleblower award to an overseas whistleblower. The award indicates that any individual, overseas or in the United States of America, that voluntarily provides the SEC with original, relevant information is eligible to participate in the whistleblower process, be afforded the protections of the process, and obtain a whistleblower award.

August 3, 2018

CFTC’s Whistleblower Program Pays $45 Million In Awards

by Silver Law Group

What’s-In-a-Name-Whistleblowers-300x300 The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission announced that it has awarded more than $45 million to whistleblowers. This includes a recent $30 million award to a whistleblower, the largest single award in the program. A second whistleblower award of $70,000 is the first to be awarded to a resident of a foreign country. Both individuals provided critical information that led to successful outcomes.

The program encourages individuals to report misconduct and violations of the Commodities Exchange Act (CEA.) Whistleblowers are offered protection against retaliation for reporting, and these awards are given for successful recovery.

According to the CFTC’s website, the Whistleblower Program “was created by section 748 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (Dodd-Frank Act). The CFTC pays monetary awards to eligible whistleblowers that voluntarily provide the CFTC with original information on violations of the CEA that leads the CFTC to bring a successful enforcement action resulting in monetary sanctions exceeding $1,000,000.”

April 6, 2018

SEC Awards More Than $2.2 Million to Whistleblower Who Initially Reported Information to a Different Federal Agency

by Silver Law Group

The Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) announced that it was awarding a whistleblower more than $2.2 million on April 5, 2018 using the “safe harbor” provision of the Securities Exchange Act of 1943.

The whistleblower, a former company insider, first reported the information to another federal agency and later provided the same information to the SEC. The information helped the SEC open an investigation that led to an enforcement action.

While not the highest amount awarded to a whistleblower by the SEC, the award is significant as it is the first award paid under the “safe harbor” of The Securities Exchange Act of 1934 Rule 21F-4(b)(7). The rule treats whistleblower information as though it had been submitted to the SEC at the same time that it was submitted to another federal agency as long as that same whistleblower information was submitted to the SEC within 120 days of first filing.

March 20, 2018

SEC Announces $83 Million in Whistleblower Awards; Largest Award Ever

by Silver Law Group

The Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) announced on March 19, 2018 its largest whistleblower award: a $50 million bounty split between two whistleblowers and a $33 million award to a third whistleblower.

Prior to the combined $83 million award, the SEC’s highest whistleblower award was $30 million awarded in 2014.

In 2010, Congress added Section 21F to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”). Part of 21F authorized the SEC to pay monetary awards to individuals who voluntarily provided the SEC with original information about a securities law violation that lead to the SEC sanctioning the wrongdoer in excess of $1 million.

January 9, 2018

Overseas Tipster Helps SEC Take Down Long Running Securities Fraud

by Silver Law Group

An overseas tipster recently helped the SEC take down a large and long-running securities fraud at the whistleblowers former company.

As per policy, the SEC would not identify the individual whistleblower or the specific securities violation they helped to uncover, but they did note the tipster worked for the company where the alleged securities violations took place and they offered to assist the SEC throughout its entire investigation. The SEC also said that the tipster was not a U.S. citizen and worked for the company in an overseas office.

Jane Norberg, chief of the SEC’s Office spoke about the case saying “Company insiders often have valuable information that can help the SEC halt an ongoing securities law violation and better protect investors,” She also spoke about the SEC whistleblower program in general “The breadth of the SEC’s whistleblower program is demonstrated by this case, where the whistleblower, a foreign national working outside of the United States, affirmatively stepped forward to shine a light on the wrongdoing.”

December 12, 2017

SEC Announces Two Whistleblower Awards In Access of $8 Million

by Silver Law Group

On November 30, 2017, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced two whistleblower awards in excess of $8 million. The bounties were awarded to 2 individual whistleblowers whose information was instrumental in the SEC investigations, and who’s continuing assistance and cooperation substantially assisted the SEC in successfully bringing the underlying enforcement actions.

SEC enforcement actions sourcing from whistleblower tips have resulted in more than $1 billion in financial remedies ordered against securities and investment firms since 2012.

One of the whistleblowers in the recent awards alerted the SEC enforcement staff of misconduct that would become the central focus of the staff’s investigation and the centerpiece of the SEC’s subsequent enforcement action. The second whistleblower at the same firm provided additional significant information and ongoing cooperation to the staff during the investigation resulting in a substantial savings of time and agency resources.

August 3, 2017

SEC announces another $2.5 million dollar whistleblower award for a former government employee

by Silver Law Group

The Whistleblower business can be very profitable for tipsters, a landmark whistleblower award of nearly $2.5 million was awarded today by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The recipient of this award was the employee of a domestic government agency. Information provided by this whistleblower was instrumental in launching a SEC investigation. The anonymous whistleblower continued to offer assistance and eventually helped expose wide ranging misconduct in an unnamed company.

Jane Norberg, the Chief of the SEC’s Office of the Whistleblower praised whistleblowers and the continued success of the award program.

”Whistleblowers can provide a wealth of information and ongoing assistance that helps our agency bring enforcement actions quicker and more efficiently,” She also noted the speed allowed by the assistance of whistleblowers.’ “This whistleblower not only helped us open the case, but also provided timely ongoing assistance along with critical documents and testimony that accelerated the pace of our enforcement action.”

August 2, 2017

Circuit Court Split On Internal Whistleblower Protection Sets Stage For Supreme Court Showdown

by Silver Law Group

A key component of the Dodd-Frank Act is headed to the Supreme Court for review. The court will decide if internal whistleblowers who have not yet reported potential violations to the SEC are protected under the anti-retaliation statutes of Dodd-Frank.

The Supreme Court review is necessary to resolve a split in the lower appellate courts stemming from a case brought by a former Digital Realty Trust Inc executive. In the case, Paul Somers a former employee of Digital Realty seeks to sue for alleged retaliation. Digital Realty had protested a decision by the Ninth Circuit that found that internal whistleblowers were protected under the Dodd-Frank Act’s anti-retaliation statutes, even if they had not yet reported potential violations to the SEC.

Somers’s lawyer, Daniel L. Geyser of Stris and Maher was not surprised by the Supreme Courts willingness to hear the case, although he strongly believed that the Ninth circuits interpretation of the law was in line with the scope of Dodd-Frank as written by Congress.