The whistleblower program was passed by Congress as a way of offering rewards to people that wish to come forward with information about financial schemes and financial frauds taking place within different institutions. While the program is relatively new, there have been more than twenty thousand tips addressed to the program since its inception in 2011.
The program’s scope covers the issues of financial fraud and whistleblowers, the reward systems put in place and the protection program that protects the said whistleblowers from retaliation from the perpetrators of financial fraud. From 2011, the institution has uncovered billions of dollars in financial actions and paid over 332 million dollars to the whistleblowers responsible for the takedown.
Issues on financial fraud have a great magnitude when it comes to United States laws. In recent years there have been a ton of reported cases of financial schemes that have gone unpunished due to lack of evidence or incomplete reports to the SEC whistleblower program.
It is important and necessary for the general public to understand the process involved in the undertaking of the program’s initiative. The following are some of the steps taken before a tip can be used in the persecution of financial fraudsters.
Establish material violation. Before you send your tip to the SEC, it is important that you establish the materiality of the claim. When the lawyers of the program receive a tip, the investigate the whistleblowers’ credibility for the award. This makes it easier for them to organize their cases in terms of seriousness and allocation of resources.
Eligibility of the claim affects the percentage of the award. Investigation of an individual’s eligibility is a complex step and differs according to a person’s relationship with the institution in question and the way the information was acquired.
Act fast. The timing of the tip and the whistleblower’s claims is time relevant. It is important that whistleblowers act on their information fast since it is one of the factors that SEC uses when considering the grounds for the reward. The originality of the information about the crime and significant of the same in the takedown are key factors in the determination of the award.
Understand the rules before sending the application is also important for the SEC Whistleblower lawyer to determine the weight of the claim. A tip that has followed the right application process helps to save time and determine the percentage of the award.