President Donald Trump and Congressional GOP leaders are now aiming to dismantle the Dodd-Frank Act, and the SEC’s whistleblower program along with it. The SEC’s program, the Office of the Whistleblower is without question one of the most effective whistleblower programs in the country.
In a memo, Chairman Jeb Hensarling of the House Financial Services Committee has announced his intention to cut down major parts of the Dodd-Frank Act. The memo took specific aim at key provisions underlying the SEC whistleblower program, including cutting out whistleblowers that had participated in the wrongdoing they report. This comes on the back of President Trump ordering the Treasury Department to review the law, also with an eye toward dismantling it.
The SEC’s Office of the Whistleblower is easily one of the most effective programs available to whistleblowers. In just a few short years, the Office has made incredible achievements including:
- Successfully incentivizing thousands of whistleblowers from across the country and the world. In just four years, the Office has issued over $107 million in whistleblower awards.
- Enforcing against illegal non-disclosure agreements that prohibited reporting to the government.
- Allowing whistleblowers to file both anonymously and confidentially, which ensured greater security for whistleblowers especially those reporting internationally.
- Using the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act to Establish one of the world’s only effective transnational anti-corruption tools
The model set forth by the SEC Whistleblower Office can and should be replicated, not dismantled. We need to demand that Congress and the President stand behind effective SEC whistleblower enforcement.
Take action now to demand Congress and the President protect the SEC’s Office of the Whistleblower.
