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"It's all in the footnotes: A field guide to SEC whistleblower awards" (Part 3 of 5) by Christopher F. Regan, Matthew E. Newman, and Ian J. Acker (Business Law Today)

Business Law Today

Part Three of this five-part series — “What Procedural Rights and Responsibilities Do Award Claimants Have?” — will examine footnotes related to two procedural aspects of the SEC whistleblower program: filing a whistleblower claim and contesting the SEC’s preliminary award determination.

What Procedural Rights and Responsibilities Do Award Claimants Have?

1. Filing a Whistleblower Claim

What happens when the SEC’s investigation is coming to a close and the whistleblower believes a potential award is on the horizon? Per the whistleblower rules, the next steps involve waiting for the SEC to issue a Notice of Covered Action and then filing a whistleblower award claim: “[w]henever a Commission action results in monetary sanctions totaling more than $1,000,000, the Office of the Whistleblower will cause to be published on the Commission’s Web site a ‘Notice of Covered Action.’ . . . A claimant will have ninety (90) days from the date of the Notice of Covered Action to file a claim for an award based on that action, or the claim will be barred.” Specifically, the claimant must complete a Form WB-APP and mail or fax a signed copy and any attachments to the Office of the Whistleblower within 90 calendar days of the Notice of Covered Action.

Click here to read Part 3 of the article.

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