The SEC issued its fiscal 2012 (ended September 2012) report regarding is complaint reporting system that is maintained pursuant to Section 21F of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. This article describes this program.
The SEC received over 3000 complaints. With this volume, no wonder that the SEC received complaints came from every state, Complaints also came from 49 foreign countries.
The SEC made only one payment so far, to an anonymous complainant. 143 enforcement judgments and orders were issued during the fiscal year that may be eligible for future whistleblower awards. The SEC already set aside over $543 million for future rewards.
The SEC program is controversial because it undercuts complaint reporting systems operated by companies. At the risk of being obvious, companies should be interested in receiving these complaints directly, rather than being told of the complaint by the SEC. To help ensure this level of employee cooperation, follow these Whistleblower Best Practices.
