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Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act › Whistleblowers › Rule 21F

The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act is a United States federal statute signed into law on July 21, 2010. The Act was passed in response to the Great Recession of the late 2000s and... more +
The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act is a United States federal statute signed into law on July 21, 2010. The Act was passed in response to the Great Recession of the late 2000s and includes broad reforms related to many aspects of the financial and banking industry. Notable sections of the Act include stricter regulations of the derivatives market, as well as the Volcker Rule, which restricts the trading practices of FDIC-insured institutions.    less -
WilmerHale

SEC Continues Scrutiny of Provisions That Might Impede Whistleblowers

WilmerHale on

On September 9, 2024, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced settled charges against seven public companies for violations of certain whistleblower protections provided by Rule 21F-17 under the Securities...more

Holland & Knight LLP

Overblown? SEC's Aggressive Enforcement of Rule 21F-17 for Whistleblower Protection

Holland & Knight LLP on

Section 21F, titled "Whistleblower Incentives and Protection," is a set of provisions within the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 that govern, among other things, the rights and obligations of SEC whistleblowers and the...more

Dorsey & Whitney LLP

The New SEC Whistleblower Rules: Improving A Successful Program Or Undermining It?

Dorsey & Whitney LLP on

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (“Commission” or “SEC”) whistleblower program has, by all accounts, been a huge success.  Added to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (“Exchange Act”) as Section 21F by the...more

Bass, Berry & Sims PLC

SEC Grants Eligibility Waiver to Issue Whistleblower Award

Bass, Berry & Sims PLC on

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently awarded $3 million to joint whistleblowers despite concluding that the whistleblowers did not satisfy the technical eligibility requirements for receiving an award. See...more

WilmerHale

Supreme Court Articulates Dodd-Frank Whistleblower Definition in Digital Realty Trust, Inc. v. Somers

WilmerHale on

On February 21, 2018, the Supreme Court held in Digital Realty Trust, Inc. v. Somers that the anti-retaliation whistleblower protections under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Dodd-Frank...more

Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP

Supreme Court Decides Digital Realty Trust v. Somers, No. 16-1276

Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP on

On June 19, 2107 the U.S. Supreme Court decided Digital Realty Trust v. Somers, holding that the Dodd-Frank Act’s prohibition on employer retaliation against whistleblowers extends only to individuals who have reported...more

Cooley LLP

Blog: SCOTUS Says Whistleblowers Must Whistle All The Way To The SEC

Cooley LLP on

Today, SCOTUS handed down its decision in Digital Realty v. Somers, a case addressing the split in the circuits regarding the application of the Dodd-Frank whistleblower anti-retaliation protections: do the protections apply...more

Saul Ewing LLP

SEC’s Office of the Whistleblower Ends 2017 With a Bang

Saul Ewing LLP on

Just in time for the holiday season, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC” or “Commission”) has brought joyful news to three whistleblowers who will receive substantial awards of over $8 million each to two...more

Proskauer - Whistleblower Defense

SEC Awards Over $16 Million to Two Whistleblowers

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On November 30, 2017, the SEC Office of the Whistleblower issued a bounty award of more than $16 million to two tipsters; each received an award of more than $8 million. The SEC denied awards to five other claimants....more

Jackson Lewis P.C.

Supreme Court Set To Decide Whether Dodd-Frank Protects Internal Whistleblowers

Jackson Lewis P.C. on

On June 26, 2017, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to review whether the Dodd-Frank Act’s whistleblower anti-retaliation provisions protect employees who only complain internally to their employer, but do not complain directly...more

Nossaman LLP

A Divided Ninth Circuit Extends Dodd-Frank's Anti-Retaliation Protection for Whistleblowers

Nossaman LLP on

Without a bright line requirement of an SEC contact to trigger whistleblower status, employers may not learn until after termination that an employee claims to be a whistleblower. Employees often raise internal questions,...more

Orrick - Employment Law and Litigation

Circuit Split on Whistleblower Protections Widens: Ninth Circuit Follows Second Circuit and Splits with Fifth Circuit in Holding...

Orrick - Employment Law and Litigation on

On March 8, 2017, a divided panel of the Ninth Circuit issued an opinion in Somers v. Digital Realty Trust Inc. that further widened a circuit split on the issue of whether the anti-retaliation provisions in the Dodd-Frank...more

BakerHostetler

Ninth Circuit Widens the Circuit Split on Whether Dodd-Frank Protects Internal Whistleblowers

BakerHostetler on

Last week, a divided panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued an opinion in Somers v. Digital Realty Trust, Inc., No. 15-17352 (9th Cir. March 8, 2017), in which it held that the anti-retaliation protections of the...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

SEC Claws Back Award for Dawdling Whistleblower, as Feds Signal Changes in Award Eligibility

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on

Seyfarth Synopsis: Last week, the Securities and Exchange Commission released an Order Determining Whistleblower Award Claim holding that the whistleblower’s award should be reduced to 20% of the monetary sanctions collected...more

Akerman LLP - HR Defense

Employers Beware: SEC Continues Offensive on Employment Agreements That Inhibit Whistleblowers

Akerman LLP - HR Defense on

Risk Alert (literally)! Standard provisions in employment agreements, severance agreements and policies may run afoul of the SEC’s whistleblower regulations. In the wake of several highly publicized enforcement actions by the...more

Proskauer Rose LLP

OCIE Staff to Examine Registered Advisers' Policies and Agreements for Whistleblower Rule Compliance

Proskauer Rose LLP on

On October 24, 2016, OCIE published a risk alert noting that the SEC exam staff intends to examine registrants' compliance with the Dodd-Frank Act's whistleblower provisions. The alert noted recent enforcement actions...more

WilmerHale

SEC Examiners Focus on Investment Adviser and Broker-Dealer Compliance With Whistleblower Rules

WilmerHale on

Last week, the SEC's Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (“OCIE”) issued a Risk Alert regarding examinations of investment adviser and broker-dealer registrants' compliance with key whistleblower provisions...more

Orrick - Finance 20/20

SEC Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations Issues Risk Alert on Whistleblower Rule Compliance

Orrick - Finance 20/20 on

On October 24, Staff in the Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (the “Staff”) issued a National Exam Program Risk Alert announcing that it is examining registered investment advisers and registered...more

Stinson - Corporate & Securities Law Blog

SEC Exams Looking for Whistleblower Violations

Stinson - Corporate & Securities Law Blog on

SEC staff in the Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations are examining compliance with key whistleblower provisions arising out of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. The staff is...more

Brooks Pierce

SEC Opens up the Toolbox to File First Stand-alone Whistleblower Retaliation Case

Brooks Pierce on

Welcome back to Whistleblower Week here at Cady Bar the Door. It is a glorious time. Today we discuss In re International Game Technology, Inc., filed on September 29th. While it has done this before alongside other...more

Baker Donelson

Small Business Securities Bulletin: Standard Confidentiality Provisions May Be Prohibited "Pretaliation" in Eyes of SEC

Baker Donelson on

As we discussed in our June 2011 Bulletin, available here, SEC rules promulgated under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (Exchange Act), pursuant to Section 21F thereunder as enacted by the Dodd-Frank Wall...more

Polsinelli

SEC Takes Aim at Anti-Whistleblower Employment Agreements

Polsinelli on

On Aug. 15, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission issued its second fine in six days to an employer for drafting severance agreements that restricted former employees from collecting awards as whistleblowers. The fines...more

Perkins Coie

CFTC Proposes Rules to Align with SEC Whistleblower Program

Perkins Coie on

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) proposed amendments last month to the regulations governing its whistleblower bounty program. A number of the changes are aimed at more closely aligning the CFTC’s...more

Polsinelli

SEC Takes Aim at Anti-Whistleblower Employment Agreements

Polsinelli on

On August 15, 2016, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued its second fine in six days to a health insurer for allegedly creating severance agreements that illegally restrict former employees from collecting...more

BakerHostetler

SEC Enforcement Actions May Require Changes to Severance Agreements

BakerHostetler on

Public companies should revisit their template severance agreements, in light of two recent orders by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Standard severance clauses covering (1) confidential information and (2)...more

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