⁍ Whistleblower advocates, lawyers and lawmakers said the changes could deter insiders from flagging corporate fraud and misconduct.

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⁍ The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Wednesday will finalize changes to its whistleblower program.

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⁍ The program attracts thousands of tips annually, public data shows.

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⁍ The SEC received 5,200 tips in 2019, the second highest number since the program kicked off in 2011.

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– The SEC is set to vote Wednesday on changes to its whistleblower program that critics say will make it more difficult for insiders to report corporate fraud. The agency has received thousands of tips annually since the program was created in the wake of the 2009 financial crisis, and the SEC’s chair has said he wants to make it more efficient and speed up awards, Reuters reports. Last year, the SEC received 5,200 tips, the second highest number since the program kicked off in 2011. The majority of awards have been less than $2 million but some have been as high as $50 million. Whistleblower advocates and lawyers say the proposed changes would reduce incentives for tipsters to flag the most egregious frauds by increasing the legal costs of filing tips, limiting rewards, and creating uncertainty. Some of the planned changes had also met with resistance on Capitol Hill, including from Republican Senator Chuck Grassley, a longtime champion of federal whistleblower protections. The SEC proposed, among other measures, giving staff more latitude when assessing the value of awards and the discretion to reduce some payouts if they exceeded $30 million. It also proposed requiring whistleblowers formally file their tip within 30 days of first making contact with the agency. Currently, whistleblowers may file their tip, a long legal document required to claim a bounty, long after they first make contact with SEC staff and a probe is underway. The SEC has said the proposed changes would ensure rewards are ‘reasonably necessary’ and has pointed out that additional discretion would also allow staff to adjust upwards in cases of smaller penalties.