It was only a few decades ago that securities fraud was running rampant in corporations around the country. The issue was made worse when the owners of these companies would make it clear to their employees that any talk of such actions would be dealt with swiftly by termination in the company. The employees were basically harassed to the point they had to turn a blind eye to corruption to keep their jobs, that was until 2010 when Congress enacted what is known today as the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform.
Although the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) were well aware fraud was occurring in the market, they were helpless to expose the real criminals because employees were fearful they would be exposed to serious harassment and loss of employment by owners who could make life miserable for those who spoke up. The new reform act was aimed at these employers, giving their workers a place they could now turn safely to report violations anonymously and get rewarded financially at the same time if these criminals were brought to trial. These whistleblower programs added a barrier between employee and employer that did not previously exist.
Any new violations to the financial security laws were now presented to the Securities and Exchange Commission by employees who were protected, and the reports began to roll in fast and furiously. Right after the reform took effect in 2010, the law firm Labaton Sucharow began focusing their efforts on providing workers a place for consultations and reporting their employers conducting securities fraud. The law firm took a proactive stance on this growing financial issue by bringing into their company international and qualified forensic accountants, in-house private investigators, as well as financial analysts, supporting counsel for the increasing number of new whistleblowers.
Workers being harassed with job security began opening up more easily about all of the fraud taking place at their jobs. The cash reward offered to whistleblowers was substantial, and according to the rules of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform program, the Securities and Exchange Commission was now paying all eligible employees 10-30% of money sanctions collected when successful SEC enforcement was over $1 million dollars. The Dodd-Frank Act stopped retaliation by employers against the whistleblower pursuant to any program rules.
Things began to change rather quickly as those employers still conducting fraud against the financial sector had to look more carefully at how they conducted business.
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