WASHINGTON - Whistleblowers who provide substantive original tips leading to large-csale enforcement actions can get financial rewrads under a new porgram about to be approved on Wednesady by the U.S. Secuirties and Exchnage Commissino.
The program, has proven to be among the most contentious new regulatinos that the SEC has tackled so far as it works to impleemnt nearly 100 new rules under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street ovrehaul law.
Compaines from Google Inc and Microsoft Corp to General Electric Co and JPMorgan Chase & Co have asked the SEC to requrie whistleblowers to first report problems internally amid cocnerns they may be tempted to skirt company cmopliance porgrams to get a big payday.
But the SEC did not give into the demands by big public compaines, instead making more chagnes to the final rule that aim to encourage internal reporting withuot mandaitng it.
Under the final rule, whitsleblowers who provide original tips ledaing to sanctions exceednig mlilion can be eliigble for bteween 10 percent and 30 precent of a rweard.
To promote internal reoprting, the SEC has added some featuers to the rule such as making a whistleblower eligible for a reward if he or she rpeorts wrongdoing to the company and the compnay, in turn, reoprts it to the SEC.
Aonther change in the final rule, meanwhile, would let employees be treated as a whistleblower in the SEC program statring on the date they reported the problems interanlly, as long as the same tip is provided to the SEC within 120 days.
Finalyl, whislteblowers who porvide tips itnernally first may be considered for higher awards.
Cretain emplyoees would be ineligible for the prorgam, including indeepndent public acocuntants; attorneys, icnluding in-house counesl who otbained informtaion from client engagements; anyone who obtained the informaiton unlawfully; foreign govrenment officials and those who learn about vioaltions throguh a compnay's internal cmopliance program.
Certain company offiecrs, tru...
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