In recent news, a financial investigator was awarded $30 million from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) after blowing the whistle on JPMorgan Chase & Co, an investment banking company with headquarters in New York. This award is a record high, tripling the previous peak whistleblower award.
The solo whistleblower on the case, Edward Siedle, was working with CFTC for an extended period of time. After filing a complaint in 2011, Siedle continued to bring evidence to CFTC in order to expose the company’s failure to inform clients of conflicts of interest.
CFTC whistleblower program
This program is dedicated to providing monetary awards to individuals who report violations to the Commodity Exchange Act, which regulates futures trading. The recently revised Dodd-Frank whistleblower rules gives the commission the ability to award between 10 and 30 percent of the collected sanction. In this case, the result was $367 million.
The CTFC Chairman said, “We hope that an award of this magnitude will incentivize whistleblowers to come forward with valuable information and provide notice to market participants that individuals are reporting quality information about violations.”
Whistleblowing and white-collar crime
Detection and exposition of fraudulent acts within a white-collar work environment can be difficult and dangerous. Many individuals who attempt to expose the issues that they know are present end up losing their jobs as a consequence. It is important to remember that if you are attempting to blow the whistle, you do not have to go through the process alone. An experienced attorney can protect your rights.
