The Pickholz Law Offices

In 2010, the U.S. Congress enacted The Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (“Dodd-Frank”), which created the most substantial changes to the U.S. financial regulatory laws since the Great Depression.  Through the Dodd-Frank Act, the U.S. Congress established a comprehensive whistleblower program for the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) for the first time.  It should be noted that the since Dodd-Frank is a Federal law, its jurisdiction covers the entirety of the United States.  Therefore, the SEC NY Whistleblower Program is really just a way of referring to the federal SEC Whistleblower Program when it has some connection to people or events in NY.

In creating the SEC whistleblower program (and therefore the SEC NY Whistleblower Program), Congress sought to provide a monetary incentive to anyone who reports information about corporate frauds and securities law violations to the SEC.  If you report a fraud at the company you work for (or a fraud at another company) to the SEC, you may be eligible to become an SEC whistleblower.  Under the program, if someone voluntarily provides information about a fraud or other violation to the SEC, and the SEC brings a successful action based in part or in whole on that information, and the SEC collects more than $1 million, the SEC is required to give the eligible whistleblower(s) a monetary award of between 10% - 30% of the amount collected.

While the rules regarding the granting of an SEC whistleblower award are straightforward, there are other rules and procedures that must be followed for someone to ensure that they will qualify as an SEC whistleblower when applying for an SEC whistleblower reward.  If you are thinking about reporting information to the SEC and/or becoming an SEC whistleblower, you may want to consult with an SEC whistleblower attorney before contacting the SEC.

An established SEC whistleblower lawyer can guide you through the process of being an SEC whistleblower, such as, but not limited to:  filing your complaint, interacting with the SEC and its Staff on your behalf, pursuing your claim to an award, and appealing an award determination by the SEC’s Claims Review Staff should you disagree with its decision.