On July 15, the U.S. Senate passed the “Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act” (the “Act”) otherwise known as the Wall Street Reform bill.  President Obama signed the bill on July 21, 2010 putting into place the most significant and sweeping changes to our country’s financial regulatory system since the Great Depression.

The Act includes a new whistleblower program that could pay potentially large cash rewards to individuals who report securities violations to the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). For the first time in history the SEC has been authorized to pay whistleblowers at least 10%—and up to 30%—of monetary sanctions obtained in a successful enforcement action by the SEC, as long as the sanction obtained is more than $1 million.  It also contains new protections from retaliation by companies against whistleblowers. Continue reading →