On October 17, a former executive of the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) filed an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court in a case over the denial of their U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) whistleblower award claim. Victor Hong, who served as the managing director of RBS, argues that his whistleblower disclosure to the SEC helped U.S. authorities collect more than $10 billion in settlements with RBS in 2017 and 2018.
Through the SEC Whistleblower Program, qualified whistleblowers, individuals who voluntarily disclose original information that contributes to a successful enforcement action, are entitled to monetary awards of 10-30% of the funds collected by the government. The program’s related action provisions entitle whistleblowers to awards when the information they disclose to the SEC is used by other federal agencies in successful enforcement actions.
In 2014, Hong made voluntary disclosures to the SEC documenting alleged misconduct related to RBS’s valuation of mortgage-backed securities. The SEC in turn shared Hong’s information with the Department of Justice (DOJ). Eventually, federal prosecutors and the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) secured multi-billion dollar settlements with RBS.
The SEC denied Hong’s whistleblower award claim because the agency did not file a successful enforcement action of its own. Under the Dodd-Frank Act, the SEC must file an enforcement action of its own with at least $1 million in sanctions in order for the related action...
It’s starting to look like somebody’s got a serious vendetta against Future and will stop at nothing to try and destroy his brand and career because the math isn’t mathing and facts just aren’t li...