The seal of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is seen at their headquarters in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 12, 2021. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly
(Reuters) - A recent increase in awards from the U.S. Securities and Exchange's decade-old whistleblower program is spurring more lawyers to bet their careers on the niche practice area.
The agency's program since June 2020 has granted six of the top 10 largest whistleblower awards, with four of those just last year, according to SEC data. By the end of the SEC’s 2021 fiscal year in September, the agency had awarded about $564 million to 108 individuals – the most money to the most whistleblowers in a single year since the program launched, the SEC said.
In the last month, two new law firms focused exclusively on SEC whistleblower work have announced openings.
Mark Pugsley and Bryan Wood launched Pugsley Wood, with what Pugsley said was more than 100 pending cases, some already decade old. Pugsley had been a partner at Ray Quinney & Nebeker in Salt Lake City until December. He said he began filing SEC whistleblower cases in 2011 when the program was launched.
One of those cases accused electric vehicle maker Nikola Corp of misleading investors about its future prospects, resulting in an SEC complaint the company settled in December for $125 million. Nikola neither confirmed nor denied the allegations at the time.
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