Atlanta SEC Whistleblowers Attorney

False Claims Act Lawyer in Atlanta, GA

Do you know about a company that is violating the rules and laws of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)? Then you need to report what you know. If you follow the rules outlined by the SEC under the authority of the Dodd-Frank Act, then if the SEC levies a fine of $ 1,000,000 or more, you may be entitled to get 10-30% of the amount.

The Wallace Law Firm can help you report violations of SEC rules. Tell us about the company that is breaking the SEC’s rules and regulations. Do the right thing by reporting the violations, and you may wind up helping stockholders, our economy and yourself, all at the same time.

Contact an Atlanta SEC whistleblower lawyer today to get help reporting the violation.

The Dodd-Frank Act

The SEC made these rules in response to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act passed on July 21, 2010. Under the statute, if the SEC uses the information that a whistleblower gives it, and the information leads to an order that a company pay monetary sanctions exceeding $1,000,000, then the SEC is required to give the whistleblower 10-30% of that amount. The SEC Commissioner determines where within that range the award will fall, and his or her decision is not appealable.

The statute requires the SEC to take into account:

  • The “significance of the information” the whistleblower provides,
  • The “degree of assistance” that the whistleblower’s lawyer or the whistleblower provide,
  • The commission’s interest in stopping violations of the sec rules,
  • And other facts as set forth by the sec.

The whistleblower has to have provided the SEC with information based on his or her independent knowledge or analysis, which the SEC Commissioner did not previously know about unless the whistleblower is the original source of the information.

The statute also makes it illegal for companies to retaliate against whistleblowers who try to do the right thing by reporting rules violations to the SEC. The company is not allowed to “discharge, demote, suspend, threaten, harass, directly or indirectly, or in any other manner discriminate against” the whistleblower because the person is trying to make disclosures and report what has happened to the SEC.

A Recent SEC Whistleblower Case

The SEC announced its first-ever payout to a whistleblower on August 21, 2012. The SEC explained that the whistleblower wanted to remain anonymous, so the person was not named. The whistleblower received $50,000, which the SEC explained was 30% of the amount the SEC had collected “thus far.” Under § 922 of the Act, the SEC “shall pay an award or awards to 1 or more whistleblowers who voluntarily provided original information to the Commission that led to the successful enforcement of the covered judicial or administrative action.”

The SEC Office of the Whistleblower is headed up by Director Sean McKessy.

The Act was named after Representative Barney Frank, who was the Financial Services Committee Chairman in the House of Representatives by Barney Frank, and Senator Chris Dodd, who was the Senate Banking Chairman.

Tell us about your case involving SEC violations today.