Congress Seeks to Expand Scope of Financial Whistleblower Protections to Employees Who Choose to Report Internally

On September 23, 2019, Senators Chuck Grassley, Tammy Baldwin, Joni Ernst and Dick Durbin introduced the Whistleblowers Programs Improvement Act (the “Whistleblower Improvement Act”) in an effort to expand certain protections provided to whistleblowers under the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (“Dodd-Frank”), as well as ensure that a decision regarding a potential monetary award to a successful whistleblower is made in a timely manner. 

First, the Whistleblower Improvement Act would ensure that employees who choose to report potential misconduct internally would receive the same protections as those that directly report to financial regulators, protections that the United States Supreme Court held were not available under Dodd-Frank in Digital Realty Tr., Inc. v. Somers, 138 S. Ct. 767 (2018).  By expanding the protections, Congress hopes to encourage internal reporting and allow companies to address any potential wrongdoing and, if necessary, self-report the misconduct to financial regulators, which could lead to reduced penalties. 

Second, the Whistleblower Improvement Act attempts to provide timely resolution of a whistleblower’s application for a monetary award, which, given the steady increase in tips, can take the SEC years to render a decision.  Under the new provision, the SEC and/or the CFTC would be required to determine whether a whistleblower is entitled to receive an award within one year of the deadline to apply for the award.

The Whistleblower Programs Improvement Act can be found here.