FCPAméricas Blog
Como se dice “Whistleblower”? (Part 1: Latin Americans Learning about Dodd-Frank)
2.10.2012
The Frank-Dodd whistleblower provisions became effective almost exactly six months ago. Then, three months later, the SEC provided initial data on the whistleblower program in an Annual Report to Congress. From this report, we know that 10% of the tips in the first several weeks came from abroad, and that some of those were from Latin America.
[Part 1 of this blog series considers how Latin Americans are learning about Dodd-Frank. Part 2 considers whether whistleblower protections can extend to Latin Americans.]
Given this information, companies operating in Latin America clearly need to be aware of the risk of whistleblowers from their Latin America operations. What should be even more worrying is that this is likely just the tip of the iceberg – knowledge of the possible recoveries for whistleblowers (a foreign concept in most Latin American legal systems) is bound to spread throughout the region over time.
How are people in the region learning about the whistleblower mechanisms now? One way is in the press. For example, this article goes so far as to discuss, in Portuguese and in detail, concepts like “voluntarily provides,” “original information,” and “leading to successful enforcement.” It describes when attorneys and auditors can act as whistleblowers. It provides examples of the total potential recovery percentages.
Further, once FCPA enforcement actions lead to 10%-30% recoveries by Latin American whistleblowers, we can expect an explosion of interest. And at some point, the U.S. plaintiffs bar will see the potential of Latin American whistleblowers seeking U.S. counsel.
The good news is that there is still time for companies subject to the FCPA and operating in the region to get ahead of the risk. The time to develop adequate anti-corruption compliance programs, and identify potential risks, is now.
Get ready.
The FCPAméricas blog is not intended to provide legal advice to its readers. The blog entries and posts include only the thoughts, ideas, and impressions of its authors and contributors, and should be considered general information only about the Americas, anti-corruption laws including the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, issues related to anti-corruption compliance, and any other matters addressed. Nothing in this publication should be interpreted to constitute legal advice or services of any kind. Furthermore, information found on this blog should not be used as the basis for decisions or actions that may affect your business; instead, companies and businesspeople should seek legal counsel from qualified lawyers regarding anti-corruption laws or any other legal issue. The Editor and the contributors to this blog shall not be responsible for any losses incurred by a reader or a company as a result of information provided in this publication. For more information, please contact Info@MattesonEllisLaw.com.
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© 2012 Matteson Ellis Law, PLLC
Post authored by Matteson Ellis, FCPAméricas Founder & Editor
Comments
February 11th, 2012 at 12:07 pm
Matt, thank you for opening this discussion. I look forward to Part 2. Here in Ecuador, local companies doing business internationally are already beginning to understand the significance of anti-corruption whistleblowing, and the subsequent importance of establishing workable in-house anti-corruption complaint procedures.
On your possibly rhetorical question about how to translate “whistleblower” into Spanish, it would be good to find or create a good Spanish equivalent. The words “soplón” and “chivato” are already in use, but they both start out with the negative connotation of “snitch”. A direct translation of the metaphorical “whistleblower” could be a made-up word, such as “pitador”, related to “pitos” (the whistles used by sports referees and police officers). The verb “pitar” even contains the sense of a loud vocal protest, e.g., “to boo”, which is much more positive than “to snitch”. The down-side of “pitador” is its evocative relation to the smoking of lesser drugs.
February 21st, 2012 at 10:22 am
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