The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) today released the annual report from its Office of Enforcement confirming the critical role the Dodd-Frank Act whistleblower reward program is playing in protecting investors from fraud.
According to today's report, the Enforcement Division confirmed that the SEC whistleblower law:
- is "very successful" and "whistleblowers have made meaningful contributions to significant cases";
- the whistleblower program has "resulted in" "high-quality SEC enforcement actions"; and "led to more than "$2 billion in financial remedies”;
- The "Commission has recognized" the "importance" of whistleblower "tips”;
- The SEC has paid whistleblowers "approximately $387 million" in rewards.
“Job well done,” according to SEC whistleblower attorney Stephen M. Kohn. "The enforcement report confirms what we have long known: whistleblowers are the key to detecting frauds. Without whistleblower-insiders, the vast majority of frauds would go undetected, and investors would lose billions of dollars to those given by criminal greed.” Mr. Kohn has represented corporate whistleblowers for over 35 years and worked with Congress in drafting the Dodd-Frank Act whistleblower protections.
"The SEC has confirmed that a well-placed whistleblower is the 'goose that lays the golden egg.' The SEC program has been highly successful, and we hope that the new regulations under consideration by the Commission will build on this substantial progress," Kohn said.
Resources:
SEC Enforcement Division Report 2019
How to Qualify for Rewards as an SEC Whistleblower (FAQs)
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Stephen M. Kohn is a leading qui tam attorney who is a founding partner of Kohn, Kohn & Colapinto. The primary litigation focus of these whistleblower attorneys includes representing whistleblowers under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, qui tam reward laws, the False Claims Act, SEC whistleblower laws, and IRS whistleblowers. In 2012, the firm obtained the largest qui tam whistleblower reward given to a single individual in history ($104 million to UBS whistleblower Bradley Birkenfeld) and currently represents Danske Bank Whistleblower Howard Wilkinson. In 1988, Kohn helped found the National Whistleblower Center, where he currently serves, pro bono, as Chairman of the Board of Directors. His eighth book on whistleblower law is the highly respected The New Whistleblower's Handbook (Lyons Press, 2017).
