The challenge
Securities fraud and corporate bribery are hidden inside firms and hard for regulators to detect.
The case
The 2010 Dodd-Frank Act created a whistleblower program at the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). People who give original information leading to enforcement actions with sanctions above $1 million can receive 10% to 30% of the money collected, and the law bars employers from retaliating or gagging staff. By the end of fiscal year 2024 the SEC had paid more than $2.2 billion to 444 whistleblowers since awards began in 2011. In 2024 alone it received about 24,980 tips and paid over $255 million to 47 people, including about $98 million split between two individuals. It also brought a record 11 cases against firms that tried to stop staff from reporting.
Why it worked
Large, credible rewards plus legal protection turn insiders into a steady source of leads that auditors and investigators cannot easily get. The data show heavy use of the program, though there is no clean estimate of how much wrongdoing it deters.
Sources
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