AN ANALYSIS OF THE SEC’S WHISTLEBLOWER AWARD PROGRAM MANDATED BY THE DODD-FRANK ACT (2010): FY 2010─FY 2017

Abstract

The Dodd-Frank Act was signed into law on July 21, 2010 (DFA 2010). The Act extended the role and protection of whistleblowers by providing awards to whistleblowers who gave relevant information to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Commodities Futures Trading Commission (DFA 2010). As of December 31, 2017, the SEC’s whistleblower program has awarded more than $179 million to 50 whistleblowers since issuing its first award in 2012. These statistics illustrate the enormous wrongdoing and whistleblower benefits, so it is important for both academics and practitioners to understand the SEC’s whistleblower program. To that end, the purpose of this research is to analyze the SEC’s whistleblower award program from July 2010, with the passage of the Dodd-Frank Act through September 30, 2017.