SEC Whistleblower Blog
Are Proposed Changes to the SEC Whistleblower Program a Step Backwards?
October 24, 2018
This summer, the SEC voted 3-2 to propose amendments to the rules governing its whistleblower program (the “Proposed Amendments”). At nearly 200 pages long, the Proposed Amendments contain a number of substantive proposed changes to the Program. As the two dissenting Commissioners and others have noted, the Proposed...
Vanguard Whistleblower Case Proves the Challenges brought on by Somers Decision
June 6, 2018
In the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision narrowing the scope of who is considered a “whistleblower” under the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010, a former tax attorney with an ongoing whistleblower retaliation claim against his former employer now faces an uphill legal battle for his Dodd-Frank claim to survive.
David Danon brought...
Yahoo Settlement Reflects Important Role of Cybersecurity Whistleblowers
May 3, 2018
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has reached yet another settlement arising from a cybersecurity event. On April 24, 2018, the SEC announced that it had reached a $35 million settlement with Altaba, Inc. – the company formerly known as Yahoo! Inc. – to resolve claims that the company misled investors by failing...
SEC Increases Scrutiny of EB-5 Investment Fraud
April 9, 2018
The Immigrant Investor Program, or EB-5 Program, was until recently a little-known visa preference program operated by a division of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. But the program made headlines in January 2018 when The Wall Street Journal reported the Kushner Companies’ use of the program was under investigation by...
SEC Reports 3 of its Biggest Whistleblower Payouts and a Steady Increase in Tips in 2017
February 20, 2018
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Office of the Whistleblower has filed its Annual Report to Congress for FY2017, marking another banner year for the SEC Whistleblower Program. During FY2017, the SEC issued whistleblower awards totaling nearly $50 million to 12 individuals. The fiscal year included three of the...
Florida Court Broadly Reads Reasonableness Standard in SOX Whistleblower Case
February 15, 2018
Congress has passed numerous whistleblower protection laws to shield company insiders and others who act in the public interest from retaliation as a means to encourage them to report and attempt to prevent illegal activity. To invoke these whistleblower protection laws, employees must prove that they engaged in “protected...
Initial Coin Offerings: A New Frontier for the SEC and Whistleblowers
January 16, 2018
In July 2017, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) issued an investigative report concluding that virtual tokens and coins may be securities subject to federal securities laws. The SEC’s conclusion may have wide-ranging implications for a burgeoning area of investment in innovative financial markets and the tech...
SCOTUS - Oral Argument in Digital Realty Trust v. Somers. Section 922 of the Dodd-Frank Act
December 6, 2017
Update: On Feb. 21, 2018, the Supreme Court unanimously held that the statute’s definition of “whistleblower” was unambiguous and therefore precluded the SEC from more expansively interpreting that term. Digital Realty Tr., Inc. v. Somers, No. 16-1276, --- S. Ct. ---, 2018 WL 987345, at *14 (U.S. Feb. 21, 2018). As...
CFTC Provides More Protection and Broader Eligibility with Changes to Whistleblower Program
September 28, 2017
In the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010, Congress established a whistleblower program for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the United States’ primary regulator of commodities, in an effort to encourage whistleblowers to report possible violations of the Commodity Exchange Act. On May 22, 2017, the CFTC announced...
Two Federal Court Cases Highlight the Thin Line between Deception and Fraud
September 21, 2017
Potential whistleblowers often face challenging situations in which they have to discern whether their employer is engaging in fraud. Making the wrong call could cost them the protection of anti-retaliation provisions of whistleblower laws. While employees may find their employers’ practices deceptive or potentially harmful to...
