Tag Archives: Geoff Schweller

Bipartisan Bill Offers Needed Reforms to SEC Whistleblower Program

By Stephen M. Kohn and Geoff Schweller

Photos of the authors

Stephen M. Kohn and Geoff Schweller (photos courtesy of the authors)

Since it was established in 2010, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Whistleblower Program has emerged as the gold standard for whistleblower award programs. Through a combination of anonymous reporting channels, anti-retaliation protections, transnational reach, and mandatory whistleblower awards, the program has generated tens of thousands of tips, resulted in the collection of over $6 billion in sanctions from fraudsters and the return of over $1.3 billion directly to harmed investors.

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Major Takeaways from the CFTC Whistleblower Program’s 2024 Annual Report

by Andrew Feller and Geoff Schweller

photos of the authors

Andrew Feller and Geoff Schweller (photos courtesy of Kohn, Kohn & Colapinto, LLP)

On November 15, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) released its annual report on its Whistleblower Program and Customer Education Initiatives for the 2024 fiscal year. Since it was established in 2010, the CFTC Whistleblower Program, which offers anonymous reporting channels and monetary awards to commodities whistleblowers, has grown into a critical piece of the CFTC’s enforcement arsenal.

The report details what was a record year for the CFTC Whistleblower Program, with the highest-ever number of both whistleblower tips and award applications received and the most award orders issued in a single fiscal year. Ironically, however, due to its growth and success, the program faces a funding crisis threatening to undermine the program.

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U.S. Attorney Office “Whistleblower” Programs Sow Confusion and Pose Risks to Corporate Whistleblowers

by David Colapinto and Geoff Schweller

Photos of authors

Left to right: David Colapinto and Geoff Schweller.(Photos courtesy of Kohn, Kohn & Colapinto LLP)

In recent weeks, a number of U.S. Attorneys’ Offices (USAOs) across the country have rolled out “Whistleblower Pilot Programs” offering the potential of non-prosecution agreements in exchange for voluntary self-disclosure of criminal conduct by participants in non-violent offenses. These “whistleblower” programs, announced within the same timeframe as the Department of Justice’s new Corporate Whistleblower Awards Pilot Program, can sow confusion among would-be-whistleblowers as well as attorneys and pose significant risks to corporate informants as these Pilot Programs differ greatly from other well-known corporate whistleblower programs, such as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Whistleblower Program.

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Empirical Data Supports Efforts to Reform Internal Corporate Whistleblower Protections

by Stephen M. Kohn, Alyce Petit, Kate Reeves, and Geoff Schweller

Photos of the authors

Left to Right: Stephen M. Kohn, Alyce Petit, Kate Reeves and Geoff Schweller (photos courtesy of authors)

Corporate whistleblowers who report through internal compliance channels face higher rates of retaliation than those who report externally to the government, according to research published in a working paper on the Social Science Research Network (SSRN).

An analysis of 8-years worth of Dodd-Frank Act and Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) whistleblower retaliation cases found that over 90% of the cases involved internal whistleblowers.

These findings are of particular importance in light of Congressional efforts to amend the Dodd-Frank Act to extend anti-retaliation protections for internal whistleblowers. They also validate the importance of regulations by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) that explicitly do not require whistleblowers to make internal reports prior to qualifying for a reward under the Dodd-Frank.

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