Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) have introduced the SEC Whistleblower Reform Act of 2025, a bipartisan effort that proposes targeted reforms to strengthen the Securities and Exchange Commission’s whistleblower program.
The legislation addresses three key concerns: expanding anti-retaliation protections, streamlining award processing, and reinforcing whistleblower rights. These updates follow years of calls for reform since the Supreme Court’s 2018 decision in Digital Realty Trust, Inc. v. Somers, which removed protections for whistleblowers who report misconduct internally rather than directly to the SEC.
Supreme Court Removed Protections for Whistleblowers
The proposed bill reinstates these protections, ensuring employees who report concerns within their company’s compliance structure are covered. It also imposes a one-year deadline for the SEC to issue initial rulings on whistleblower award claims and prohibits companies from enforcing predispute arbitration agreements that waive whistleblower rights.
Andrew Feller, Senior Special Counsel at Kohn, Kohn, and Colapinto, LLP, commented, “The bipartisan SEC Whistleblower Reform Act offers simple fixes to three of the few shortcomings facing the otherwise immensely successful SEC Whistleblower Program. This important bill will help ensure that the SEC Whistleblower Program continues to play a central role in the Commission’s work of protecting investors, ensuring the integrity of the market, and...
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