Tariffs-Free Regulatory Importing?
actions.72
Asad Akhtar
The program has paid out seventeen awards, with the largest award being over $30
million.73
Unfortunately, the picture painted by the SEC is not a thorough depiction. One challenge
that is not reflected in the statistics is that payment to whistleblowers is contingent on the amount
recovered by the SEC.74 In fraud prone areas, it is notoriously difficult for the SEC to ultimately
recover sanctions.75 Thus, it is possible for whistleblowers to be left without any compensation
despite a successful enforcement action that was largely contingent on the whistleblower’s
assistance.
To further complicate matters, whistleblowers have complained about transparency,
extensive backlogs and poor interactions with SEC staff. Some whistleblowers felt misled by the
agency regarding the actual payable bounty and poor communication after a successful
enforcement action.76 One report found that eighty-three percent of the 297 whistleblowers who
applied for an award since 2011, have yet to receive a response from the SEC regarding a
potential payout.77 Others have commented that its interactions with the agency felt adversarial
in nature as opposed to a collaborative effort.78 As Senator Chuck Grassley is quoted to have
stated, the integrity of the program is in jeopardy when “people have felt they put their
livelihoods on the line and hear nothing but radio silence in return”.79
Government Accountability Project, “SEC Whistleblower Program Statistics” (2014) online: Government
Accountability Project .
73
Ibid.
74
Jean Eaglesham & Rachel Ensign, “Whistleblowers find SEC rewards slow and scarce”, Wall Street Journal (May
25, 2015) online: Wall Street Journal: .
75
Ibid.
76
Ibid.
77
Jean Eaglesham & Rachel Ensign, “SEC Backlog Delays Whistleblower Awards”, Wall Street Journal (May 4,
2015) online: Wall Street Journal: .
78
Supra note 74.
79
Supra note 77.
72
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