Why Public Companies Need to Incentivize Whistleblowers
The Securities and Exchange Commission’s whistleblower rewards program has prompted over 50,000 tip-offs in the last decade that have led to public companies paying almost $5 billion in fines and penalties. This is an embarrassing and costly state of affairs for some of the world’s most innovative companies, and something needs to change. If public companies want to […]
SEC Whistleblower Fines For September: 15 Cases for $36 Million
At the end of every month, the SEC publishes a Notice of Covered Action (NOCA) for recent enforcement actions with monetary penalties exceeding $1 million. For September the SEC published fifteen NOCAs which featured nearly $36 million in sanctions. Once a NOCA is published, any whistleblower who provided information to the SEC on the case has 90 days […]
Can Legal, Compliance or Audit Claim SEC Whistleblower Awards?
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) operates an enormously successful whistleblower award program. In just ten years, it has paid out over $1.3 billion to individuals who have helped the SEC prosecute hundreds of legal violations. Most award recipients are regular employees, but a small portion have been legal or compliance personnel. Compliance and audit personnel occupy a […]
SEC Whistleblower Program Rarely Pays Out Compliance Personnel
On July 19th 2022, the SEC paid yet another multi-million dollar whistleblower award under its whistleblower program, bringing the total paid to whistleblowers over $1.3 billion. When the program was introduced over a decade ago, some feared that the program would encourage compliance personnel and lawyers to abuse their positions and report the very clients they represented. However, […]
5 Common Mistakes When Reporting FCPA Violations
Article by John Peterson, Managing Attorney The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) is a U.S. law that prohibits bribery. If you’d like to learn more about how to report FCPA violations, feel free to check out our previous posts on reporting FCPA violations here and here. In this post, we will look at some common mistakes people make when reporting FCPA […]
How to Become An FCPA Whistleblower – Five Simple Steps
Article by Managing Attorney, John Peterson If you work at a company that sells products or services outside the U.S., you may have heard of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). The FCPA is a law that prohibits paying bribes to foreign government officials (to learn more about FCPA violations read our guide here). If you know of […]
5 Things To Consider Before Blowing The Whistle On Your Employer
Thinking about blowing the whistle on your employer? Learn how FBR can protect your whistleblower anonymity & set you up for success. Talk with an attorney.
How to Report FCPA Violations
Article by John Peterson, Managing Attorney, FBR. The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) is a U.S. law that prohibits bribery. The FCPA is enforced by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Both agencies regularly issue fines to companies for violating the FCPA and pursue violations aggressively. In addition, the […]
How Much Will the Facebook Whistleblower Get Paid?
Article by John Peterson, Managing Attorney, FBR. On October 3rd, Frances Haugen, a data engineer and former Facebook employee gave a 60 Minutes interview alleging that Facebook had internal research showing that its platform magnified hate and discrimination. Not only did Haugen publicly make these allegations, but she also reported them to one of Facebook’s regulators, […]
SEC Whistleblower Guide 2022: How to Fill In SEC Form WB-APP
Article by John Peterson, Managing Attorney, FBR. Filling out the Form WB-APP is one of the last and most important steps in claiming a whistleblower award. But failing to fill out the Form correctly, or not submitting it on time, could mean losing your reward. That’s why we always recommend that you seek the assistance […]
