Some people approached at conferences have begged off talking because they don’t want to be seen as cooperating with the government, according to a person familiar with the matter. But enticing whistle-blowers should be a bit easier these days. The 2010 Dodd-Frank Act allows the SEC to give tipsters bigger awards in more types of cases. The agency in 2014 paid more than $30 million, its largest ever, to a source living outside the U.S. in an undisclosed case.
“It shows creativity and a more aggressive approach to investigations,” said Stephen Crimmins, a former SEC enforcement lawyer who’s now with the firm Murphy & McGonigle. “They’re willing to experiment.”