On June 29, 2018, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced proposed amendments that will undermine its successful whistleblower program.
The SEC proposed these changes with no input from the whistleblower community, yet adopted a position consistent with the long-standing and flimsy viewpoint advanced by the anti-whistleblower U. S. Chamber of Commerce (“Chamber”).
The National Whistleblower Center (NWC) filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request seeking documents related to lobbying efforts by Wall Street firms and the Chamber of Commerce that gave rise to the SEC’s proposed rules. The SEC determined that the NWC had a “compelling need” to receive these documents “on an expedited basis” and determined that there were 15,877 emails that could be responsive to NWC’s request. These included 1,078 emails that referenced both “whistleblower” and “Chamber of Commerce” created between January 2, 2017 and June 29, 2018.
Despite its agreement to expedite the release of these documents, the SEC will not release them until after the comment period. Today the NWC formally requested the SEC to extend the public comment period for proposed changes until 60 days after the SEC produces these 15,877 emails and other documents it identified in response to NWC’s FOIA request.
We need your help! Please click the Take Action button to send a letter to the SEC demanding to extend the comment period for the proposed rules.
The American public has a right to complete transparency to evaluate the proposed rule changes.
- Demand the SEC release all communications with special interest groups regarding the proposed rule changes to its Whistleblower Program;
- Demand the SEC extend the public comment period the SEC Whistleblower Program rules for 60 days after the information is released;
- Support the concerns raised in the NWC’s letter filed with the Commission on September 17, 2018, linked here.
