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Typically, a whistleblower is someone who, motivated by a commitment to public interest, reports information about wrongful or illegal conduct of private entities or in public office to authorities that have the power to act against such activities.
Under some legislations whistleblowers get a reward for exposing the wrongful acts, and often this amount is anywhere between 10 and 30 percent of the recoveries from wrongdoing.
While the word suggests insiders to an organization, a whistleblower usually can be anyone with information of dubious activities – employees, competitors, contractors, suppliers, clients. Depending on the legal system applicable, a whistleblower will have different sets of rights, responsibilities, and protections. At SAATH the focus of the international whistleblower practice is on the intersecting legal systems of India and the U.S.
Being a whistleblower is often a satisfying journey, but it can be a tiresome, long, and not a uniformly pleasant ordeal. While being silent and keeping information confidential sometimes from even loved ones can be arduous, often whistleblowers find it gratifying at the end of a successful case.
Some regimes across the world also provide a reward to the whistleblower in recognizing the hardship and personal toll it takes to bring truth to power. Brave and conscientious people who want to try to expose misdeeds, fraud, and wrongdoings to hold governments and corporations accountable have to navigate intersecting legal systems. A lot of these systems understand the risk to revealing sensitive information that most would want to keep hidden or be too afraid to expose. A part of this understanding is to provide awards to whistleblowers to protect and incentivize bringing out information.
Some examples of whistleblower rewards that typically range between 10 and 30 percent of the total penalty collected by U.S. authorities
An Indian executive who provided information on health and safety violations of the generic drug manufacturer, Ranbaxy, was awarded $48 Million (approximately ₹240 Crores)
The American market regulator, the Securities and Exchange Commission paid $279 Million in 2023 to a whistleblower. As reported by the Wall Street Journal, this award is possibly being given to the whistleblower in a foreign government bribery case under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
Over $27 million to a whistleblower who alerted the SEC to misconduct occurring, in part, outside the U.S. in 2020.
During the pandemic, in 2021, SEC issued over $5 Million to two joint whistleblowers who were located outside the U.S.
Almost 10 years ago, a foreign whistleblower was given over $30 Million by the American market regulator, the Securities and Exchange Commission.
In 2023, the SEC announced $104 million for seven individual whistleblowers who aided in the success of an SEC enforcement action and related actions carried out by another agency.
In November 2020, an international whistleblower was awarded approximately $3.6 million by the American regulator, SEC.
In 2021 two joint whistleblowers who alerted the SEC to the securities law violations involving highly complex transactions were given $110 Million and $ 4 Million separately.
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