As an attorney who represents clients who submit “tips” to the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) through its new whistleblower program, I have recently published a guide to the new SEC rules that allow corporate insiders to earn substantial monetary awards for reporting securities violations to the Commission.
Since the passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in 2002, many employees of public companies have faced retaliation for blowing the whistle on shareholder fraud and other securities violations. Under the new SEC program, whistleblowers who help the agency bring successful enforcement actions against securities-law violators can qualify for the awards of 10% to 30% of the amount the SEC recovers.
My guide, Doing Well by Doing the Right Thing: A Guide to the SEC Whistleblower Program and the New Rules that Can Lead to Rewards for Reporting Securities Violations, is for whistleblowers and their lawyers who want to understand the rules governing the new program so that they can prepare high-quality tips for submission to the SEC. Key sections and topics covered in the guide include:
- The types of information a whistleblower needs to provide in order to qualify for an award.
- Who is and is not eligible for participation in the program.
- Factors the SEC will consider in determining the amount of awards.
- Things that whistleblowers and their counsel need to consider when preparing tips for submission to the SEC.
The Whistleblogger publishes guest blogs from prominent members of the national and international whistleblower rights community. This guest blog was written by David J. Marshall, a whistleblower attorney, member of GAP’s Advisory Board, and partner at Katz, Marshall & Banks, LLP in Washington, DC.