The federal Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), more than two years after publishing a proposal, has promulgated a final rule making changes to its regulations implementing the agency’s whistleblower anti-retaliation and bounty hunter program under the Dodd-Frank financial reform law. The revisions were prompted by the Supreme Court’s unanimous 2018 ruling in Digital Realty Trust v. Somers, which held that the SEC had gone too far in interpreting the scope of Dodd-Frank’s whistleblower retaliation protection coverage.
According to the SEC, the revised regulations will “provide greater transparency, efficiency, and clarity to whistleblowers.” CWC had submitted written comments to the SEC generally supportive of the proposed changes, along with recommendations for further improvements, some of which were adopted in the final rule. The revised rule is set to take effect 30 days after its publication in the Federal Register, which at the time of this memo’s publication has yet to occur. A copy of the SEC’s revised final rule and an accompanying fact sheet are available online.
Members of the Center for Workplace Compliance (CWC) can read more here.