The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved by a vote of 3-2 on Wednesday final rules implementing the Whistleblower provisions of Dodd-Frank Act.
The SEC created its Whistleblower office after Dodd-Frank mandated that the SEC pay rewards to individuals who voluntarily provide the Commission with original information that leads to successful SEC enforcement actions and certain related actions.
SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro (left) said Wednesday that “for an agency with limited resources like the SEC, it is critical to be able to leverage the resources of people who may have first-hand information about violations of the securities laws.” While the SEC has a history of receiving a high volume of tips and complaints, she continued, “the quality of the tips we have received has been better since Dodd-Frank became law. We expect this trend to continue, and these final rules map out simplified and transparent procedures for whistleblowers to provide us critical information.”