The enactment of the Dodd-Frank Act heralded several regulatory and legal changes, including the start of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s whistleblower program. The program hands out awards to employees who come forward with complaints about their companies’ alleged violations of securities laws or of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act that result in sanctions of more than $1 million. And the awards, which range from 10 to 30 percent of the fines collected by the commission, can get pretty large. Just this week, an unnamed overseas employee got a $30 million award from the SEC.
David Marshall, a partner at Katz, Marshall & Banks, a firm that specializes in whistleblowing cases, has authored “The SEC Whistleblower Practice Guide,” which outlines the rules around the program’s enforcement and what employees should consider when submitting a tip. Although the guide is technically designed for whistleblowers, not companies, there is plenty that in-house counsel can learn about the whistler’s point of view from reading it.
