3 Facts Potential New York SEC Whistleblower Program Participants Should Know
If you know about a securities violation or a corporate fraud and are considering becoming a New York SEC whistleblower program participant, you may be looking for more information about the SEC whistleblower program before proceeding. There are three questions that potential New York SEC whistleblower program participants often want to know:
1. How Does The SEC Whistleblower Program Work?
If someone voluntarily provides original information about a securities violation or corporate fraud to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), before any government agency or regulator asks about that subject area, that person may be eligible to receive an SEC whistleblower award. But that information has to cause the SEC to open a new investigation, or it has to substantially contribute to an ongoing SEC investigation. If it does, and if the SEC brings a successful action based on that information, in which the SEC collects more than $1 million from the wrongdoers, the SEC must give the whistleblower(s) a monetary award of 10% - 30% of the amount that the SEC collects. However, there are a lot of rules that determine whether someone is eligible for an SEC whistleblower reward, and a lot of rules that can disqualify someone from receiving an SEC whistleblower award.
2. How Is My Identity Protected?
Under the SEC whistleblower statute, the SEC must keep the identity of its whistleblowers “confidential”. In general, this means that the SEC cannot disclose your identity to your employer without your permission. In addition, a whistleblower may proceed “anonymously” with the SEC, which means that even the SEC does not know the whistleblower’s name. To proceed anonymously, you are required to be represented by an SEC whistleblower lawyer. As with the eligibility rules, there are a lot of rules that pertain to an SEC whistleblower’s rights to confidentiality or anonymity, who the SEC is allowed to share a whistleblower’s information with, and under what conditions.
3. Am I Allowed To Be Represented By An SEC Whistleblower Lawyer?
If you wish to proceed as a New York SEC whistleblower program participant, you are allowed to be represented by an SEC whistleblower attorney. The SEC whistleblower statute specifically says that “Any whistleblower who makes a claim for an award under” the SEC whistleblower program “may be represented by counsel.” (15 U.S.C. § 78u-6(d)(1).) In fact, you must be represented by counsel if you proceed anonymously. (15 U.S.C. § 78u-6(d)(2)(A).)
As mentioned above, there are a lot of SEC whistleblower rules that must be satisfied to receive an SEC whistleblower award. The SEC whistleblower rules as originally implemented are approximately 37 pages long, with an additional 25 pages of forms and instructions. For this reason, if you are thinking about becoming a New York SEC whistleblower program participant, may want to consult with an experienced SEC whistleblower law firm.
About The Pickholz Law Offices
The Pickholz Law Offices is an experienced New York SEC whistleblower program law firm. We were one of the first SEC whistleblower law firms to win an SEC whistleblower award for a client.
We were also the first law firm ever to win an award for a client on appeal to the full Commission in Washington, D.C. Inside Counsel magazine named this first-of-its-kind result as one of the milestones of the SEC whistleblower program.
As an SEC whistleblower law firm, we have represented employees, directors, and officers in SEC whistleblower cases involving financial institutions and public companies listed in the Fortune Top 20, Top 50, Top 100, Top 500, and the Forbes Global 2000.
For more information about The Pickholz Law Offices or the SEC whistleblower program, please click on any of the links on this page.
To speak with an SEC whistleblower lawyer, you can call us at 347.746.1222. Your initial conversation of up to one hour is free of charge. You are under no obligation to hire The Pickholz Law Offices when your initial conversation is concluded.
