Do I Have A Good SEC Whistleblower Program Case?

A potential SEC whistleblower often wants to know whether he
or she has a good
SEC whistleblower program case.  This leads to the question of what type of SEC
whistleblower program case the SEC might be interested in
hearing about.

Part of the answer to that question might come from looking at
types of cases that the SEC has brought in the past.  To
get started, you can take a look at prior posts that I have
written about types of SEC cases by clicking
here,
here,
here, and
here.

Any federal securities fraud, or violation of the federal
securities laws, might be of interest to the SEC and could
lead to an SEC whistleblower program case.  But
obviously, each Administration is going to have its own
“priority” cases that it is especially interested
in hearing about from
SEC whistleblowers.

For example, the SEC under the leadership of former Chair Mary
Jo White had certain high-interest types of cases that it gave
priority to.  In 2018, the SEC under current Chair Jay
Clayton has different types of cases that it considers to be
high priority.

This does not mean that the types of cases that a prior
Administration prioritized get ignored or abandoned by a new
Administration.  Since its inception, the SEC has always
been interested in receiving credible information about
serious securities frauds and violations.

Any securities fraud or violation could give rise to a valid
SEC whistleblower program case.

SEC Chair Testifies Before Congress About Commission
Priorities

Yesterday, SEC Chair Jay Clayton testified before the U.S.
House of Representatives’ Committee on Financial
Services.

During his testimony, Mr. Clayton informed the Committee about
the SEC’s current priorities for Enforcement cases:

Going forward, Enforcement will continue to place a priority
on misconduct that harms retail investors, such as offering
frauds, Ponzi schemes, conflicts of interest and inappropriate
or excessive fees.

Enforcement has also continued to focus its efforts on
addressing cyber-related threats to investors and the
financial markets.

(Testimony, pp.  7-8.)  If you have credible information
about one of these types of federal securities frauds, it
might make for a good SEC whistleblower program case.

SEC Chairman Clayton’s Testimony

Is It Worth It To File A Different Kind Of SEC Whistleblower
Program Case?

Most likely yes.

Under Chair Clayton, the SEC has brought many other kinds of
cases already, such as Foreign Corrupt Practices Act
(“FCPA”) cases, false statements cases, failure to
supervise cases, and many more.

Just because Mr. Clayton did not mention a particular type of
federal securities case during a small section of his much
longer testimony does not mean that the SEC is not interested
in hearing about it.  It is not in-and-of itself a reason
not to report it to the SEC, and reporting it could lead to an
SEC whistleblower reward.

If you have legitimate information about any kind of federal
securities fraud or federal securities law violation, the SEC
will likely be interested in hearing about it.  If you
have any questions or concerns, you might want to discuss them
with an experienced
SEC whistleblower lawyer.

* * *

About the Pickholz Law Offices LLC

The Pickholz Law Offices LLC is a law firm that focuses on
representing clients involved with investigations conducted by
the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, FINRA, and other
securities regulators.

The Pickholz Law Offices has represented employees, officers,
and others in SEC whistleblower cases involving financial
institutions and public companies listed in the Fortune Top
10, Top 20, Top 50, Top 100, Top 500, and the Forbes Global
2000. We were the first law firm ever to win an SEC
whistleblower award for a client on appeal to the full
Commission in Washington. Inside Counsel magazine named this
achievement one of the five key events of the SEC
whistleblower program. Examples of the
Firm’s SEC whistleblower cases are available here.

In addition to representing SEC whistleblowers, since 1995 the
Firm’s founder, Jason R. Pickholz, has also represented many
clients in securities enforcement investigations conducted by
the SEC, FINRA, the U.S. Department of Justice and US
Attorney’s Offices, State authorities, and more. Examples of
some of the many
securities enforcement cases that Mr. Pickholz has been
involved with are available here.

You can see what actual clients have had to say about The
Pickholz Law Offices by going to the
Client Reviews page on our website or by clicking here.

How to Contact the Pickholz Law Offices LLC

If you would like to speak with a securities lawyer or SEC
whistleblower attorney, please feel free to call Jason R.
Pickholz at 347-746-1222.

The Pickholz Law Offices remains open and will be fully
operational through teleworking while we all grapple with this
terrible pandemic. We hope that all of our clients,
colleagues, friends, and their families remain safe and
healthy. Our thoughts and prayers go out to everyone who has
been affected by COVID-19.