Since 2010, Monetary Settlements Imposed by the SEC on Public Companies have Averaged $24 Million
Under the SEC Whistleblower Award Program, if one or more whistleblowers provide information to the SEC that it uses to bring a successful action in which it collects more than $1 million from the wrongdoers, the SEC is required to give the whistleblower(s) a monetary award of between 10% - 30% of the amount of money it collects, assuming all other requirements are met.
A recent joint report by the NYU Pollack Center for Law & Business and Cornerstone Research (the “Report”) has found that from fiscal year 2010 through the first half of fiscal year 2016, the average monetary settlement imposed by the SEC on public companies and their related subsidiaries was $24 million. Over that same time period, the median settlement was $5 million. (Source: Report at page 6.)
Both the $24 million average and the $5 million median figures cited in the Report for the last 6½ years are well over the $1 million threshold required for the issuance of an SEC whistleblower award.
This is especially encouraging news for potential SEC whistleblowers, since the same Report also found that the total number of actions that the SEC brought against public companies and their related subsidiaries has been steadily rising since 2013. As I covered in my last post, in just the first half of this year, the SEC is already on pace to exceed its totals from each of the last three years, and to more than double the number of enforcement actions that it brought against public companies and their related subsidiaries during all of fiscal year 2013.
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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.
