Attorney General Eric Holder yesterday called on the government to increase rewards for those who blow the whistle on financial crimes, arguing that greater incentives are needed to induce people to come forward with insider information, Legal Times reported today. In a speech at New York University School of Law, Holder said that the maximum payout — $1.6 million — for tips under Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act is a “paltry sum in an industry in which, last year, the collective bonus pool rose above $26 billion, and median executive pay was $15 million and rising.” Although DOJ has brought more than 60 cases against financial institutions since 2009, resulting in recoveries totaling more than $85 billion, Holder said that the “department recognizes the inherent value of bringing enforcement actions against individuals, as opposed to simply the companies that employ them.”
But they’re hard cases to bring without cooperation on the inside. “Many financial criminals are savvy enough to avoid using email, which may leave a trail for investigators to follow,” Holder said.
