New York SEC Whistleblower Attorneys

New York is the center and the beating heart of the financial industry. That means, among other things, that New Yorkers are very likely to be aware of violations of securities law. Many of these violations can be uncovered by normal police and prosecutor work. And indeed, the federal prosecutors responsible for Manhattan have special expertise in securities law because they handle so many of those cases.

But not every violation is easy to uncover from the outside. In recognition of that difficulty, Congress in 2010 created incentives for people on the inside of the financial industry to come forward with information about wrongdoing. The SEC whistleblower program allows those people to collect a monetary award if the information they provide leads to a financial penalty of more than $1 million. But to keep your identity confidential and make sure you have the best chance for a large reward, it pays to have a New York SEC whistleblower attorney helping you out.

Scott Silver is a former Wall Street defense attorney and routinely works with insiders who report violations to the SEC. Our lawyers have extensive experience representing whistleblowers at the New York SEC offices.

The SEC offers 10% to 30% of the total financial penalty in exchange for original information about a possible securities law violation, offered voluntarily. That means the information must not be public, and if it was reported by someone else, you should be the original source. Voluntarily means that the information must be offered freely, rather than in response to a court order or investigation.

Importantly, the program offers confidentiality, which may be vital if you’re disclosing information that could get you fired or harassed at work. The SEC will not share the identity of whistleblowers in most circumstances. The exceptions are when a court case requires it and when it’s passing your information on to another government agency (such as prosecutors getting ready to file a criminal case), and that agency needs to know who you are.

If you would like another layer of confidentiality, you can choose to provide your information anonymously. However, in that case, you won’t be able to collect a financial award unless you have an SEC whistleblower attorney to help. That’s because the SEC will need your attorney to relay messages, which allows you to help them build a case.

That’s important because helping the SEC is one way to maximize your financial award. The SEC also tends to grant larger awards to whistleblowers who provide solid documentation of clear securities law violations, especially ones that fit within its consumer protection and fair-market missions. Our lawyers can meet with you at our New York City offices.

You can do other things to make sure your professional risk gets you the greatest possible financial award. An SEC whistleblower attorney can help you sort out how to do this in your particular circumstances. Silver Law and the Law Firm of David R. Chase offer this kind of representation to whistleblowers across the United States. Both David Chase and Scott Silver are career securities lawyers who have substantial experience with SEC enforcement actions. If you’d like to talk to us about your situation and your legal options at a free consultation, contact us through our website or call us at 800.975.4345.