SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro criticized a Congressional effort to make changes to the recently-effective SEC whistleblower program in a letter to Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA).  The bill, proposed by Congressman Michael Grimm (R-NY), waters down the program in response to complaints from corporations.  One key change would require whistleblowers to first report through their company’s internal compliance mechanisms before going to the SEC.  Chairman Schapiro’s letter warned that such changes could discourage whistleblowers from coming forward because it puts them at risk for retaliation and undermines Dodd-Frank’s anonymity provisions.  She also stressed that the act provides a monetary incentive for whistleblowers to report to internal compliance first–those that do so can receive an increased percentage of the SEC’s recovery.  In addition to raising these concerns, Chairman Schapiro urged Congress to wait to see how the program works in action before making any changes.

Read the entire article, “Congress shouldn’t alter whistleblower plan: SEC”