(Reuters) - A former commissioner of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is joining whistleblower law firm Kohn, Kohn & Colapinto as the U.S. regulator increasingly turns to tipsters for information in many of its largest cases.
Allison Herren Lee, who is joining the Washington, D.C.-based firm as of counsel, said she would represent whistleblowers “to bring accountability to Wall Street” and protect investors from fraud.
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Lee was appointed in 2019 by Republican former President Donald Trump to a Democratic post on the five-member bipartisan commission. She served as acting SEC chair during the early months of the Biden administration and announced her resignation from the commission last year.
Lee drew attention during her SEC tenure for signaling that environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) issues would be a priority for the commission. The SEC last year proposed a rule requiring public companies to disclose how their operations contribute to climate change.
Lee will represent clients seeking payouts through the SEC’s whistleblower program, which allows tipsters to collect a percentage of a financial penalty if they provide information leading to an SEC enforcement action.
A surge in payouts from the program in recent years has created a growing niche practice of lawyers, many of whom worked at the SEC, who specialize in advising whistleblowers looking to bring information to the commission.
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