SEC Whistleblower Program is an innovative program which was enacted in 2010 entitled to provide employment security, monetary awards and the opportunity to report anonymously. SEC Whistleblower Advocates Program is one of the most successful and trusted public-private partnerships in history.
To be part of this program involves various requirements and qualifications although any person regardless of citizenship can participate. The challenge comes on when the clients aren’t aware of whether, how and when to blow the whistle as it depends on various unique factors and circumstances. The management team has created a potential whistleblower program to assist clients to understand their eligibility.
SEC Whistleblower office has permitted clients to report possible securities violations anonymously. The procedure to report is simple, and it requires a whistleblower to be represented by an attorney and must present a signed copy under the penalty of perjury to the attorney. Once all necessary information is provided to the SEC, the commission mandated to do everything possible to protect this sensitive information.
Common securities violations arise when corporates disclosures false financial information. In this scenario, a corporate provides misleading financial statements or uses accounting tricks to increase reported profit and revenue in a specific time frame. Another instance where there is a possible violation is when companies involve activities which manipulate business transaction altering revenue, expenses, earnings and losses for the reporting period.
The security measures also bar cases based on the time frame from occurrence to the time it’s reported. In SEC enforcement actions with only a few exceptions, the statue time frame is five years from the time conduct arose to the time claim was stated.
Fundamentals monetary Awards under SEC Whistleblower program pays eligible whistleblower 10-30% of the total successful financial sanctions collected. Awards at times can be quite substantial. To determine the amount of SEC Whistleblower Award, SEC takes notes of several factors. Also, various factors may increase an award such as the value of information provided by whistleblower, law enforcement interest while making the distinction and participation of whistleblower in internal reporting systems.
As violations may happen anywhere in the world, the SEC Whistleblower Program only applies in the United States securities, and therefore there is a need for International Whistleblower. SEC Whistleblower represented many international whistleblowers at Labaton Sucharow in high sensitive whistleblower matters such as foreign corrupt practices acts and trading practices. International whistleblowers have made significant achievements, including the premier monetary award in the history of the whistleblower program (over $30 million).
