So yes, I totally support the SECs whistleblower program. Explicitely including the fact people can fax their tips to them, or use attorneys for a layer of semi anonymity.
>And three whistleblowers, all represented by Jordan Thomas, were awarded a total of $83 million.
>Even now, does Merrill Lynch know who the whistleblowers were, who your clients were?
>THOMAS: No, they don't.
>GOLDSTEIN: Wow.
>THOMAS: The same with JP Morgan. If we do our job well, our clients can and do continue working at the organizations in which they reported even though they could buy an island. Some of them like working, so they keep working.
>GOLDSTEIN: I mean, not to be glib, but there is the, like, hey, Bob (ph), how'd you show up in a Lamborghini today? Well...
>THOMAS: (Laughter) Yeah. No, some people don't show their money.
>GOLDSTEIN: Yeah. Yeah.
>THOMAS: And this - they - yeah, I call them secret millionaires, you know, people who won a whistleblower award but choose to keep working.
>GOLDSTEIN: At the same firm.
>THOMAS: Yeah. It does happen. People's relationship with their work is in some ways like family after a period of time, and breaking it off is hard.
I think I support this program. At first I was thinking that the commission should be capped at, say, 30 million USD. My thinking being that anyone who might become a whistleblower would be sufficiently motivated by that amount and paying more won’t increase the number of whistleblowers. But maybe the problem with that is that Ericsson could then offer to pay the would-be whistleblower 100 million USD to keep their mouth shut? Perhaps having no cap ensures that if someone wants to rat you out, you won’t be able to offer them enough money to talk them out of it. Just thinking aloud. (Because on the face of it, it’s insane.)