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  • SEC awards whistleblowers $28 million

    Securities

    On January 24, the SEC announced awards totaling nearly $28 million to joint whistleblowers whose information and assistance led to successful SEC enforcement actions. According to the redacted order, the joint whistleblowers’ provided information that prompted the opening of the SEC staff’s investigation and significantly contributed to the success of the action through substantial analysis and ongoing assistance. The SEC also noted that the joint whistleblowers’ actions helped result in the return of millions of dollars to harmed investors.

    Securities SEC Enforcement Whistleblower Securities Act

  • SEC awards whistleblowers approximately $18 million

    Securities

    On January 19, the SEC announced three whistleblower awards totaling approximately $18 million to claimants who provided information and assistance that led to a successful enforcement action. According to the redacted order, the first whistleblower voluntarily provided detailed and significant information that prompted the opening of an investigation into a fraudulent scheme and had a significant impact on the overall success of the enforcement action. The whistleblower’s assistance saved staff time and resources, the SEC said, adding that the second and third whistleblowers voluntarily provided timely information later in the investigation that also significantly contributed to the enforcement action’s success.

    Securities SEC Enforcement Whistleblower Investigations

  • SEC issues $5 million whistleblower award

    Securities

    On January 13, the SEC announced an award totaling nearly $5 million to a whistleblower whose new information and assistance led to a successful SEC enforcement action. According to the redacted order, the whistleblower provided substantial ongoing information that helped SEC staff shape its investigative strategy, identify witnesses, and draft document and information requests, which saved staff time and resources during the investigation.

    Securities SEC Enforcement Whistleblower

  • SEC awards whistleblower $37 million

    Securities

    On December 19, the SEC announced an award totaling nearly $37 million to a whistleblower whose new information and assistance led to a successful SEC enforcement and related action. According to the redacted order, the whistleblower was the initial source of the company’s internal investigation, as well as the source for investigations by the SEC and another agency. The order also noted that although the company reported the alleged conduct, the whistleblower received credit for initiating the investigations because the whistleblower provided the same information to the SEC within 120 days of providing it internally.

    Securities SEC Whistleblower Enforcement Investigations

  • SEC issues $20 million whistleblower award

    Securities

    On December 12, the SEC announced an award totaling nearly $20 million to a whistleblower whose new information and assistance led to a successful SEC enforcement action. According to the redacted order, the whistleblower provided new information, met with SEC staff multiple times, and cooperated in the investigation, which allowed SEC staff to more quickly and efficiently investigate complex issues.

    Securities SEC Enforcement Whistleblower Securities Act

  • SEC issues $20 million whistleblower award

    Securities

    On November 28, the SEC announced an award totaling nearly $20 million to a whistleblower whose new information and assistance led to a successful SEC enforcement action. According to the redacted order, the whistleblower provided significant information and continuing assistance in the investigation that allowed SEC staff to more quickly and efficiently investigate complex issues.

    Securities Enforcement SEC Whistleblower

  • 2nd Circuit: Convicted SEC whistleblower cannot claim award

    Courts

    On November 15, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit denied a petition from a plaintiff to review a decision by the SEC to not grant him his whistleblower award because he pled guilty to participating in the crime he reported. According to the order, the plaintiff provided information to the SEC that assisted in a successful agency enforcement action with respect to an international bribery scheme. The plaintiff timely filed an application for a whistleblower award in connection with both the action for which he had provided information and another related action. He pled guilty to bribery charges but had not yet been sentenced. The order further noted that because of the guilty plea, the SEC determined that the plaintiff had been “convicted of a criminal violation related to” the bribery scheme that was at issue in both actions. The order noted that, generally, the SEC is required under federal law to pay a monetary award to a whistleblower when that whistleblower “voluntarily provided original information to the Commission that led to the successful enforcement” of “any judicial or administrative action brought by the Commission under the securities laws that results in monetary sanctions exceeding $1,000,000.” The order further noted that the SEC may not make an award "to any whistleblower who is convicted of a criminal violation related to the judicial or administrative action for which the whistleblower otherwise could receive an award.”

    On appeal, the plaintiff argued that he was not “convicted” under 15 U.S.C. § 78u-6(c)(2)(B). The plaintiff also claimed that the fact that he had not yet been sentenced—even though a court has accepted his guilty plea—means that he had not been “convicted.” The appellate court found that he did not raise this issue before the agency and therefore it need not address the plaintiff’s argument about the meaning of “convicted.” But even if it were to excuse the forfeiture, the plaintiff’s argument would fail, the appellate court concluded. The plaintiff also argued that the bribery charges to which he pled guilty were not connected to the actions he was a whistleblower on, and that the SEC did not support its finding of a connection with any substantial evidence. The appellate court disagreed with this argument as well, stating the SEC and the plaintiff interpret the meaning of “related to” differently. The appellate court further explained that “[t]he SEC interprets the term to mean that 'the conduct underlying the criminal conviction must be connected to or stand in some relation to the Covered Action.'" The order stated, “[the plaintiff] suggests that the term requires the whistleblower to have been 'a part of the conduct underlying the ... enforcement action' and to have known about the conduct during its occurrence.’”

    Courts Appellate Second Circuit SEC Whistleblower

  • SEC releases enforcement results for fiscal year 2022

    Securities

    On November 15, the SEC announced that it filed 760 total enforcement actions in fiscal year 2022—a nine percent increase in total enforcement actions from fiscal year 2021. The fiscal year 2022 actions included: (i) 462 new, or “stand alone,” enforcement actions, a 6.5 percent increase over fiscal year 2021; (ii) 129 actions against issuers who were allegedly delinquent in making required filings with the SEC; and (iii) 169 “follow-on” administrative proceedings seeking to bar or suspend individuals from certain functions in the securities markets based on criminal convictions, civil injunctions, or other orders. The SEC also noted that the stand-alone enforcement actions in fiscal year 2022 “ran the gamut of conduct, from ‘first-of-their-kind’ actions to cases charging traditional securities law violations.” Among other things, the SEC described that money ordered in the actions, which is comprised of civil penalties, disgorgement, and pre-judgment interest, totaled $6.439 billion, the most on record in SEC history and an increase from $3.852 billion in fiscal year 2021. However, disgorgement was down 6 percent from the prior year, according to the SEC. The SEC also noted that fiscal year 2022 was its second highest year ever in whistleblower awards. According to SEC Director of the Division of Enforcement Gurbir S. Grewal, “the Enforcement Division is working with a sense of urgency to protect investors, hold wrongdoers accountable and deter future misconduct in our financial markets.”

    Securities SEC Enforcement Whistleblower

  • SEC awards whistleblower more than $10 million

    Securities

    On October 31, the SEC announced that it awarded a whistleblower more than $10 million for providing information and assistance that significantly contributed to a successful enforcement action. According to the redacted order, the whistleblower’s actions, including providing substantial information to the SEC and meeting twice with SEC staff, resulted in the return of a significant amount of money to harmed investors. “The charges in the covered action had a close nexus with the whistleblower’s allegations, which were critical to the underlying investigation,” the SEC said in the announcement, explaining that the action “illustrates how the Whistleblower Program works to benefit, via financial remediation, investors who are victimized by those who violate our securities laws.”

    Securities SEC Enforcement Whistleblower

  • SEC amends whistleblower rules

    Securities

    On August 26, the SEC adopted two amendments to its whistleblower program rules, which will expand the circumstances in which the Commission can pay whistleblowers for their information and assistance in connection with non-SEC actions, and affirms the Commission’s authority to consider the dollar amount of a potential award for the purposes of increasing, but not decreasing, an award. Specifically, the final rule amends Rule 21F-3 to allow the SEC “to pay whistleblower awards for certain actions brought by other entities, including designated federal agencies, in cases where those awards might otherwise be paid under the other entity’s whistleblower program.” The expanded circumstances contemplated by the SEC include instances “when the other [federal] entity’s program is not comparable to the [SEC]’s program or if the maximum award that the [SEC] could pay on the related action would not exceed $5 million.” The final rule also amends the SEC’s authority under Rule 21F-6 to ”affirm the [SEC]’s authority … to consider the dollar amount of a potential award for the limited purpose of increasing the award.” The amendment “eliminate[s] the [SEC]’s authority to consider the dollar amount of a potential award for the purpose of decreasing the award.” SEC Chair Gary Gensler stated that the amendments “will strengthen [the SEC’s] whistleblower program.” Commissioner Hester M. Peirce in contrast said that while the amendments are “inconsequential” to the success of the whistleblower program, they “carry harmful consequences both for the whistleblower program and for the [SEC]’s rulemaking processes” and “further complicate the already byzantine rules governing [the SEC’s] whistleblower program.”

    Securities SEC Whistleblower Agency Rule-Making & Guidance

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