Reported by: Mengqi Sun
The Treasury Department’s anti-money-laundering whistleblower program, which was established in 2021 but has been viewed as lacking teeth, got a shakeup in the recent omnibus spending bill that lawyers predict will result in more whistleblower cases.
The legislation, which President Biden signed into law in late December, contains major changes to the Treasury program, including setting a minimum potential award of 10% of monetary penalties in any enforcement action taken. The 2021 defense bill establishing the program laid out a maximum 30% cut for the whistleblower but listed no minimum.
In addition, the program has been expanded to accept tips on sanctions-evasion violations, and whistleblowers reporting possible violations of money-laundering and sanctions law are protected from retaliation.
The lack of a minimum award for the whistleblower, plus delays in establishing the systems for receiving and investigating tips, were key reasons why many lawyers said they were reluctant to take on anti-money-laundering whistleblowers as clients over the past two years. But with the passing of the new legislation, many said they have started to actively solicit for clients who are looking to blow the whistle.
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