In the United States, government regulatory entities have the power to give monetary awards to employees who report illegal activities at their companies.

One of the U.S. government entities with a financial reward program for whistleblowers is the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). This entity rewards employees of companies in any part of the world who provide useful information to identify, investigate and prosecute those responsible for committing illegal acts, including breaches of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).

The SEC understands that persons who work for companies are in a privileged position to identify illegal acts being committed since they have access to information which is key to investigations. SEC protects the identity of the whistleblowers and does not provide information that can be used to identify them, but does announce the awards given. In 2015, SEC received 4,000 tips.

The amounts of the awards are notably high. These awards can range from 10% to 30% of the amount recovered by SEC when this amount exceeds US$1 million (fines and sanctions). Since the program began in 2011, SEC has paid more than US$85 million in awards to 32 whistleblowers who provided evidence of illegal corporate acts. In 2014, the largest award was more than US$30 million, while in 2013 it was approximately US$14 million. Recently on June 6, 2016, SEC awarded a whistleblower US$17 million.

In a 2016 case, a former compliance officer of a company engaged in the manufacture and distribution of medical equipment brought a qui tam action alleging that the company had given money, medical equipment and trips to doctors in the United States to increase sales paid with public funds. The investigation based on the whistleblower´s information revealed that the company had also made payments and gifts to doctors at public hospitals in Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Argentina, Mexico and Costa Rica to obtain business opportunities, in breach of the FCPA. The whistleblower's information enabled the Department of Justice (DOJ) to prosecute the company. The company reached an agreement with the DOJ and agreed to pay US$646 million. The whistleblower received a monetary award of US$51 million for the information and collaboration provided.

These cases show that companies must have robust internal policies to prevent and sanction illegal activities committed. When companies fail to take these measures, there is a risk that their employees may file complaints to the authorities. This risk is increased in cases where the authorities, like those of the United States, offer monetary rewards to the whistleblowers.

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