SEC Whistleblower Lawyer Blog
The SEC recently announced that it has awarded money to two whistleblowers for their information that led to an SEC enforcement action against a company as well as a related action against the same company by another federal agency. Both individuals voluntarily provided critical information that led to the successful enforcement actions.
In the first case, Claimant #1 brought the misconduct to the SEC’s attention, but did not have anything more to offer outside of the initially supplied information. The supplied information was generalized, contained errors, and the individual didn’t fully understand the schemes. Furthermore, the individual did report the misconduct to their supervisor but did not notify the SEC for more than two years afterward. The SEC awarded this whistleblower a bounty of $4 million.
Claimant #2 offered considerably more assistance. Their help and information expanded the investigation, identified key witnesses, and their part in the scheme. The individual met with SEC staff multiple times, and the staff greatly relied on this individual during the investigation. Their information saved time and resources for SEC staff. The individual initially reported the misconduct to the company, which also led to an internal investigation. The SEC staff would not have known about this international misconduct had it not been for this second whistleblower, who was awarded $20 million.
Details about the misconduct are necessarily scant to protect the whistleblowers’ identity. But the SEC’s press release and order did mention that the misconduct occurred outside of the United States, leading to additional interest by law enforcement. Had these individuals not reported the misconduct, the SEC would have faced significant difficulty in its investigation.
Under Dodd-Frank, all identifying information about the whistleblowers are kept confidential, including the companies involved. The whistleblower awards are paid out of a fund established by Congress that is funded from financial sanctions collected from the companies involved. No investor funds are used to pay whistleblower awards.
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.