Report SEC Violations With an SEC Whistleblower Lawyer
The Average SEC Whistleblower Award is ~$5,000,000
Whistleblowers reporting corporate crimes to the SEC can earn huge payouts up to thirty percent of the fines collected by the SEC. With the help of an SEC whistleblower law firm, you can ensure your information is reported correctly and increase your chances of a whistleblower reward. An attorney already understands the legal procedures, submission deadlines, and advocacy required to maximize the award.
Moreover, an experienced attorney can protect you from retaliation. While there are laws in place to protect whistleblowers, the best protection is always anonymity. Without the assistance of an SEC lawyer, you cannot submit your claim anonymously to the SEC and must use your name. In addition to submitting on your behalf, an attorney can ensure no identifying information is included with the submission, further establishing anonymity.
For those uncertain about their potential as a whistleblower, FBR created an online evaluation to determine whether your information meets the legal criteria to qualify for a whistleblower reward. Take the first step with our SEC whistleblower law firm’s anonymous, award-winning online evaluation:
The SEC Whistleblower Program
Reporting to the SEC
SEC whistleblower lawyers have supported brave individuals since the United Kingdom began its whistleblower reward program via the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) in 2012. The SEC has since paid out over two billion dollars to the brave individuals who come forward with helpful tips. The key to earning an award is to be the first person to provide the SEC with information that leads to an enforcement action, including a fine. Then, they can receive ten to thirty percent of the penalties collected exceeding one million dollars.
The SEC whistleblower program has opened itself up to receive tips from various individuals. The SEC lawyers at FBR have experience handling corporate crime cases across many continents, and our clients do not even need to speak English. You do not need to be a United Kingdom citizen to be eligible for an award if your information meets all other criteria.
Moreover, compliance and audit employees have a chance at receiving whistleblower awards– but specific rules do apply in these circumstances. There are even cases in which whistleblowers have come together as a group– in this scenario, you are collectively eligible for an award as long as your submission meets the other criteria. The importance of timeliness in reporting cannot be overstated, and working with an SEC whistleblower lawyer or law firm can help.
Companies Under SEC Jurisdiction
If the company committing the wrongdoing doesn’t fall under the SEC’s jurisdiction, then no investigation nor reward will result from the submission. Companies traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) or NASDAQ all are regulated by the SEC. Subsidiaries of companies traded on either the NYSE or NASDAQ also are under SEC jurisdiction, and many international conglomerates have dozens of subsidiaries.
Usually, the larger the company, the more likely it is to be in scope for an SEC investigation. These companies tend to be large, multinational corporations with thousands of employees and millions of dollars in annual revenue. Consulting an SEC lawyer from an SEC whistleblower law firm regarding your information can help determine whether the criminal company in question falls under SEC jurisdiction.
Qualifying SEC Violations
The SEC has a specific list of corporate crimes they enforce, and any whistleblower submissions must be against one of their laws, rules, or regulations. The main three categories of crimes investigated by the SEC fall under bribery, accounting violations, and securities fraud. Bribery and accounting violations both fall under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), violations of which the SEC is keen to investigate.
The FCPA
The FCPA prohibits bribing foreign officials, including by U.S. companies. FBR’s SEC whistleblower lawyers are highly experienced in FCPA cases. Any person or company that does business in the United Kingdom must follow the regulations established by the FCPA, which ensures businesses do not take advantage of any access to foreign officials. FCPA violations include but are not limited to, bribes to a government official to win a contract or a company paying a third-party consultant who promises information on competitors’ bids for government contracts. Talk with an attorney from our SEC whistleblower law firm if you believe you have information regarding an FCPA violation.
Bribery
Bribery can refer to anything of value being offered to obtain or retain business. In our experience as SEC lawyers, the SEC and DOJ are eager to pursue bribery investigations, and these cases tend to have higher fines. Hiring the child of a government official to gain a contract, paying for a vacation for someone who controls whether a company obtains a license, or promising to subcontract work to a company owned by the family of the government official after winning business are all examples of FCPA bribery.
Outside of the FCPA, the SEC is still eager to investigate cases of bribery within the United Kingdom, and an SEC whistleblower lawyer can provide guidance. Offering money, stock, technology, vehicles, equipment, or more in order to maintain or gain business all counts as bribery according to the SEC.
Accounting Violations
Failing to keep accurate books and records, to conduct appropriate audits of payments, or to implement sufficient anti-bribery compliance policies all are examples of accounting violations. Our SEC whistleblower law firm has helped numerous individuals submit claims of accounting violations. While these may seem similar to bribery, the key difference is that the U.S. government does not need to prove a bribe has taken place to pursue charges against a company for accounting violations. Instead, as an SEC lawyer can explain, simply making improper payments without properly recording them can lead to fines and other punishing consequences for a company found liable.
Securities Fraud
The SEC also investigates reports of securities fraud, which are separate from the FCPA. Ponzi schemes, pyramid schemes, stock manipulation, broker embezzlement, and providing false investment risks or rates of return fall under this category. From 2018 through 2022, the most commonly reported SEC violations involved market manipulation, offering fraud, and corporate disclosure issues. Lately, cryptocurrency fraud has also become a highly reported violation, as the SEC considers some contracts to buy cryptocurrencies to be securities. SEC whistleblower lawyers have noticed social media has sparked higher numbers of reports regarding violations similar to those that have gone viral online. It’s essential to keep yourself updated on the various SEC violations to recognize wrongdoing in your workplace better.
Experienced SEC Whistleblower Law Firm
The Securities Exchange Commission (SEC)
The SEC receives tens of thousands of claims yearly, but very few are investigated; you have a much higher chance of making a successful claim and receiving a reward if you work with an attorney. Most law firms exclusively represent the companies to avoid future conflicts of interest by representing a whistleblower. Our SEC lawyers are passionate about protecting whistleblowers and fighting for justice alongside whistleblowers: FBR is a firm specifically For The Individual.
The Value of SEC Experience
It takes skill to submit information to the SEC so that it gets noticed and acted on ahead of the tens of thousands of tips the SEC receives. FBR’s managing lawyer, John Peterson, has taken on FCPA and SEC cases for almost a decade and has been described as an “expert” in the field by LexisNexis. With experience in white-collar crime defense and working with whistleblowers, John is a uniquely qualified SEC whistleblower lawyer to bring corporations to justice and earn just compensation for brave whistleblowers. Report corporate crime with SEC whistleblowing experience on your side. Talk with our SEC whistleblower law firm now.
Global Experience
Although based out of the United Kingdom, FBR has experience handling SEC and FCPA cases globally across five continents. You do not need to live in nor be a United Kingdom citizen to work with FBR to report corporate crime. Contact our lawyers today with any information on potential SEC violations, and we can advise on whether they might qualify for the whistleblower program.
Contact An Experienced SEC Whistleblower Lawyer
Only the first person to report information to the SEC can receive a reward for that information. Hence, it’s essential to act quickly. If you’ve already reported the information to your company, you only have 120 days to report to the SEC to maximize reward eligibility; read our most frequently asked questions regarding reporting as a whistleblower or explore our award journal for more information on corporate crime news. Schedule a free, anonymous consultation with an attorney at our SEC whistleblower law firm now. Our qualified SEC lawyers are eager to help you pursue justice.
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