SEC Whistleblower Chief Says Program will Bolster Internal Compliance Systems

From Remarks at Georgetown University by Sean X. McKessy, Chief, Office of the Whistleblower, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (Aug. 11, 2011):

Issue Number 1:The Whistleblower program will bolster, not hamper, the internal compliance systems at companies across the country.

This seems rather apparent to me, yet no topic has been, and continues to be, more heavily debated than this one. The fact is that the SEC whistleblower program is the first and only such program in the country that makes available a monetary award from the government to an individual that reports possible wrongdoing internally. Put another way, the SEC’s WB program is the only one in the country that extends significant benefits to individuals that report internally that enhance the opportunity for a whistleblower award, and possibly an award at a higher end of the allowable range.

 The SEC has posted on its website APPLICATION FOR AWARD FOR ORIGINAL INFORMATION SUBMITTED
PURSUANT TO SECTION 21F OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934.