Canada’s first securities industry whistleblower program that promises rewards for tips that lead to major enforcement actions is officially open for business.
The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) Thursday launched the Office of the Whistleblower, with a dedicated website (www.officeofthewhistleblower.ca), and the publication of the regulator’s final policy implementing the new program, which sets out the criteria for whistleblowers to be eligible for an award.
Modelled on a similar program that was launched by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) back in 2011, the OSC’s program promises to pay rewards of up to $5 million for original information of industry misconduct that results in successful enforcement action.
Under the OSC’s program, awards of between 5% and 15% of the sanctions imposed can be paid to whistleblowers, up to a maximum of $1.5 million. However, the award can be increased to as much as $5 million for cases that generate more than $10 million in sanctions, and where those sanctions are actually collected by the regulator.
“Our whistleblower program is a powerful addition to our enforcement arsenal and a game changer for securities enforcement in Canada,” says Maureen Jensen, chairwoman and CEO of the OSC, in a statement.
“The program will enhance our ability to protect investors and achieve better outcomes for our markets by helping us identify and pursue violations of securities law that may only come to light through a whistleblower,” she adds.
The OSC is hoping that the program enables industry insiders to come forward with information on major wrongdoing, such as market manipulation, insider trading and accounting violations, that can be hard to detect from the outside. The program also introduces anti-retaliation and confidentiality protections for tipsters. Prospective whistleblowers can report anonymously if they are represented by a lawyer, the OSC notes.
The new office is headed by Kelly Gorman, who was formerly deputy director of enforcement at the OSC. “Our program provides significant incentives for whistleblowers to come forward and offers robust protections,” says Gorman. “These protections apply even if the information provided to the OSC does not result in enforcement action or does not meet the criteria for an award.”
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