Phillips & Cohen partner Erika Kelton explores how whistleblowers led the SEC’s whistleblower program to astonishing new records during a phenomenally successful fiscal year in her latest article for Forbes.com.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission whistleblower program exploded this past year, setting astonishing records:
- The largest SEC whistleblower reward ever made ($114 million).
- The most SEC whistleblower reports filed in one year (12,200).
- More SEC whistleblowers received rewards (108) than in all prior years combined.
If there were any doubts about the effectiveness of the SEC whistleblower programs and the value of whistleblowers, a look at the numbers in the SEC Office of the Whistleblower’s fiscal year 2021 annual report should erase that.
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Most whistleblowers are loyal employees; they just want their employer to follow the law.
Current work-from-home conditions may have contributed to the flood of whistleblower submissions because they weaken employees’ ties to the workplace. But corporate America need look no further than their own business practices for reasons why so many employees go to the SEC with their concerns. Whistleblowers are motivated first and foremost by companies’ unethical practices and the failure to take steps to correct them.
Read the entire article, “Watch Out, Wall Street – Record Number Of Whistleblowers Flock To The SEC,” on Forbes.com.