Irish whistleblowers cash in on US whistleblowing bounty

Thirty one whistleblowers from Ireland have filed whistleblower reward claims in the United States, according to a new report the National Whistleblower Centre in Washington DC.

The report highlights that since 2011 more than 1000 whistleblowers from 82 separate countries, including Ireland, have made confidential disclosures to US authorities under the American anti-corruption whistleblower reward laws.

US law authorises the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to pay whistleblowers 10 per cent to 30 per cent of the amount collected as a result of the whistleblower’s information.

Since 2011, the SEC has paid non-US citizens over $30 million in whistleblower rewards.

The UK has been the leading source of SEC whistleblower tips outside the US, with Ireland coming in 8th, after Russia and Germany.

“The US reward programmes are filling the void caused by a lack of international whistleblower protections,” Stephen M. Kohn, executive director of the National Whistleblower Centre, said.

“It is troubling that whistleblowers have to come to the United States for protection, while their home countries have ignored their plight, or participated in the retaliation,” he added.

This year, the SEC received four whistleblowing tips from Ireland in the year ending September 30. This figure was down from 18 last year.

Overall, the most common complaint categories reported by whistleblowers included corporate disclosures and financials (16.9 per cent), fraud (16 per cent), and manipulation (15.5 per cent).