September 15, 2018
Some have described the SEC's Whistleblower Process as "A Black Hole Of Despair" (http://www.brokeandbroker.com/2735/sec-oig-owb/) and it appears as though the rulemaking process is no exception.
For example, the Proposed Rules single out "a summary disposition process" as the only significant rule that would be applied to already submit and pending Whistleblower Award Applications (See footnote 217 of https://www.sec.gov/rules/proposed/2018/34-83557.pdf).
The applicability of these proposed rules to pending Whistleblower Award Applications is of huge consequence, yet the SEC has done little to factually justify this change. As with other proposed changes, the SEC has not conducted an objective analysis nor has it quantified the impact of such changes. Worse, the SEC has not published data to allow comments to make informed comments on these matters.
I would specifically like the SEC to conduct a thorough analysis and calculation to determine:
1.) An estimated number of pending applications that would be subject to summary decisions
2.) The net effect on the backlog as a result of these summary decisions: How many more applications can the SEC adjudicate per month? How many months will the backlog decrease?
3.) Why does the Office of the Whistleblower need this power? Why doesn't the Claims Review Staff make these decisions?
4.) Has the SEC studied any alternatives?