Christopher Robertson and Erik Weibust Published in Financier Worldwide
“The Dodd-Frank Bounty Provisions And The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act: A New Frontier”

An article by Boston Litigation attorneys Christopher Robertson and Erik Weibust appeared in the July issue of Financier Worldwide, a United Kingdom publication directed at the global corporate finance market place. In the article, Chris and Erik provide an overview of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) recently implemented whistleblower bounty program and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, and detail the regulatory and compliance concerns for companies and their management in connection with these two legislative initiatives. They warn that the legislation could actually cause more harm than good, as “the prospect of a payment based upon the amount of a subsequent fine or penalty potentially creates perverse incentives for employees to let issues fester to the point that the bounty provision is triggered, at the expense of promptly reporting issues internally to management so that they can be resolved, and protections put in place to avoid their reoccurrence.”

Chris and Erik conclude the article by offering general advice to employers on how to resolve potential whistleblowing scenarios internally. “Building a culture of compliance within an organization starts with a strong code of ethics that is followed and communicated to employees,” they assert. “In addition, clearly communicating with employees how they may raise issues, confidentially or anonymously if they wish, and then building a record of responding to such information, is critical. Managers must be taught how to communicate with employees who raise issues in a way that encourages, not discourages, such communications