Critics of whistleblower award laws commonly claim that whistleblower awards will lead to frivolous and speculative complaints aimed at damaging the reputation of individuals or companies. However, a close look at the data around major whistleblower award laws shows that this is an unfounded critique that has yet to occur as the U.S. has expanded whistleblower award programs.
An extensive research paper published by leading whistleblower attorney Stephen M. Kohn and senior law clerk Melissa Revuelta of whistleblower law firm Kohn, Kohn & Colapinto provides ample evidence against seven of the major arguments levied against whistleblower awards in a 2014 report by the Bank of England Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA). Kohn and Revuelta’s paper, Revisiting The Arguments Against Whistleblower Award Laws: It’s Time for a Change, empirically analyzes the major criticisms of the whistleblower award provisions of the United States Dodd-Frank Act. The decades of data compiled for the paper prove that rewarding whistleblowers is an extremely effective way to incentivize insiders to come forward and boost enforcement efforts.
One major critique the paper rebuts is the FCA/PCA claim that “Financial incentives might lead to more approaches from opportunist and uniformed parties passing on speculative rumors.” Multiple international reports have cited this concern, including one that claims, “The reputation of innocent parties could be...
Topline Alexander Smirnov, the former FBI informant who was accused earlier this year of making false statements about President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden, was indicted Tuesday on unrelate...