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The Dodd-Frank provisions that allow for substantial awards to whistleblowers have opened up doors for would-be whistleblowers who might have remained silent otherwise.
Suddenly, the risks of becoming a whistleblower are well worth it if your award can significantly impact your life. Your ability to collect a considerable monetary award is dependent on meeting the criteria of an eligible whistleblower as determined by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
First, you must be the first person to provide your specific information to the SEC. If the information you have is common knowledge within your workplace, you can bet that it’s only a matter of time before a colleague comes forward in the hopes of collecting an award.
This is why it’s well-advised that you come forward as soon as you become aware of a securities violation.
Your tip also must be divulged without the SEC asking you for the information. If the SEC has already begun an investigation into your company and you are interviewed, you must provide your tip before they begin asking questions. Once they do, even if you do provide valuable information, you will not qualify for an award.
In order to collect an award, your information has to lead to an actionable enforcement by the SEC. What this means is that your tip needs to be something that really has an impact on the SEC’s ability to impose sanctions on the violating company.
Even if you meet all of the above criteria, the only way you can officially obtain an award as a whistleblower is if the SEC is able to recover a minimum of $1,000,000 in sanctions from the exposed securities violations. Of the amount the SEC collects, you will be entitled to anywhere between 10 and 30 percent depending on how valuable the tip you provided was.
Are you considering blowing the whistle on securities fraud, or have you already become a whistleblower and want to know more about how to go about collecting your award? If so, contact an experienced SEC whistleblower lawyer at Meissner Associates by calling 1-866-764-3100 or by filling out the contact form on our website.
