Securities and Exchange Commission

In announcing its first two whistleblower awards of the year, the Securities and Exchange Commission notes:

As set forth in the Dodd-Frank Act, the SEC protects the confidentiality of whistleblowers and does not disclose information that could reveal a whistleblower’s identity.

In one case, a whistleblower alerted the agency to a fraudulent scheme and received a share of the recovery — $277,000.  In another case, an investor alerted the SEC. That person was awarded $45,000.

The SEC also notes: All payments are made out of an investor protection fund established by Congress that is financed entirely through monetary sanctions paid to the SEC by securities law violation.

We await action on proposed changes to the SEC whistleblower law that could hurt whistleblowers.

Nigeria

Worldwide, whistleblowers have much less protection than they do in the U.S. Nigeria, for example, did poorly on this week’s Corruption Perception survey, scoring a 26 out of 100. A new video from an ongoing anti-corruption effort tells the stories of several Nigerian whistleblowers.

Continue Reading Whistleblower news round-up: DOD, SEC and all the way to Africa