The MarketWatch site of the Wall Street Journal reported SEC Commissioner Luis Aguilar's comments about the SEC's Dodd-Frank whistleblower program which began last year. Like the False Claims Act's qui tam provisions, the SEC's program pays a bounty to whistleblowers who, according to the SEC, "come forward with high-quality original information that leads to a Commission enforcement action in which over $1,000,000 in sanctions is ordered." Commissioner Aguilar reports that the SEC has received 2,820 whistleblower tips as of August of this year and that "[t]ips have come from around the US and from 45 foreign countries." He further stated that agency staff have "seen a noticeable difference in the quality of information they receive since the inception of the program."
Notwithstanding the number of tips, the article points out the SEC has made only one reward payment thus far to a whistleblower.
A. Brian Albritton
October 23, 2012
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