Whistleblower Programs Improvement Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4816 To amend the Commodity Exchange Act to modify provisions relating to whistleblower incentives and protection, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OCTOBER 23, 2019 Mrs. AXNE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committee on Oversight and Re- form, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To amend the Commodity Exchange Act to modify provisions relating to whistleblower incentives and protection, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Whistleblower Pro- 4 grams Improvement Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:03 Oct 29, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4816.IH H4816 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4816 IH SEC. 2. WHISTLEBLOWER PROTECTIONS FOR INTERNAL 1 DISCLOSURES. 2 Section 23 of the Commodity Exchange Act (7 U.S.C. 3 26) is amended— 4 (1) in subsection (a)(7)— 5 (A) by striking ‘‘The term’’ and inserting 6 the following: 7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term’’; and 8 (B) by adding at the end the following: 9 ‘‘(B) SPECIAL RULE.—Solely for the pur- 10 poses of subsection (h)(1), the term ‘whistle- 11 blower’ includes any individual who takes, or 2 12 or more individuals acting jointly who take, an 13 action described in subsection (h)(1)(A).’’; and 14 (2) in subsection (h)(1)(A)— 15 (A) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘or’’ at the 16 end; 17 (B) in clause (ii), by striking the period at 18 the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 19 (C) by adding at the end the following: 20 ‘‘(iii) in providing information regard- 21 ing any conduct that the whistleblower rea- 22 sonably believes constitutes a violation of 23 any law, rule, or regulation subject to the 24 jurisdiction of the Commission to— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:03 Oct 29, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4816.IH H4816 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4816 IH ‘‘(I) a person with supervisory 1 authority over the whistleblower at the 2 employer of the whistleblower, if that 3 employer is an entity registered with, 4 or required to be registered with, the 5 Commission, a self-regulatory organi- 6 zation, or a State securities commis- 7 sion or office performing like func- 8 tions; or 9 ‘‘(II) another individual working 10 for the employer described in sub- 11 clause (I) who the whistleblower rea- 12 sonably believes has the authority— 13 ‘‘(aa) to investigate, dis- 14 cover, or terminate the mis- 15 conduct; or 16 ‘‘(bb) to take any other ac- 17 tion to address the misconduct.’’. 18 SEC. 3. PROMPT PAYMENT OF AWARDS. 19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 23(b) of the Commodity 20 Exchange Act (7 U.S.C. 26) is amended by adding at the 21 end the following: 22 ‘‘(3) TIMELY PROCESSING OF CLAIMS.— 23 ‘‘(A) INITIAL DISPOSITION.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:03 Oct 29, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4816.IH H4816 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 4816 IH ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Except as pro- 1 vided in subparagraph (B), and subject to 2 clause (ii), the Commission shall make an 3 initial disposition with respect to a claim 4 submitted by a whistleblower for an award 5 under this section (referred to in this para- 6 graph as an ‘award claim’) not later than 7 1 year after the deadline established by the 8 Commission, by rule, for the whistleblower 9 to file the award claim. 10 ‘‘(ii) MULTIPLE ACTIONS.—If a cov- 11 ered judicial or administrative action in- 12 volves 1 or more related actions, the re- 13 quirement under clause (i) shall apply with 14 respect to the latest deadline with respect 15 to the actions. 16 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTIONS.— 17 ‘‘(i) INITIAL EXTENSION.—If the Di- 18 rector of the Division of Enforcement of 19 the Commission (referred to in this para- 20 graph as the ‘Director’), or the designee of 21 the Director, determines that an award 22 claim is sufficiently complex or involves 23 more than 1 whistleblower, or if other good 24 cause exists such that the Commission can- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:03 Oct 29, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4816.IH H4816 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 4816 IH not reasonably satisfy the requirement 1 under subparagraph (A), the Director or 2 the designee, as applicable, after providing 3 notice to the Chairman of the Commission 4 (referred to in this paragraph as the 5 ‘Chairman’), may extend the deadline with 6 respect to the satisfaction of that subpara- 7 graph by not more than 180 days. 8 ‘‘(ii) ADDITIONAL EXTENSIONS.—If, 9 after providing an extension under clause 10 (i), the Director, or the designee of the Di- 11 rector, determines that the Commission 12 cannot reasonably satisfy the requirement 13 under subparagraph (A) with respect to an 14 award claim, as extended under that 15 clause, the Director or the designee, as ap- 16 plicable, after providing notice to the 17 Chairman, may extend the period in which 18 the Commission may satisfy subparagraph 19 (A) by 1 additional 180-day period. 20 ‘‘(iii) NOTICE TO WHISTLEBLOWER 21 REQUIRED.—If the Director, or the des- 22 ignee of the Director, exercises authority 23 under clause (i) or (ii), the Director or the 24 designee, as applicable, shall submit to the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:03 Oct 29, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4816.IH H4816 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 4816 IH whistleblower who filed the award claim 1 that is subject to that action by the Direc- 2 tor or the designee a written notification of 3 that action by the Director or the designee. 4 ‘‘(C) APPLICABILITY.—This paragraph 5 shall apply only to an award claim that is time- 6 ly submitted under a deadline established by 7 the Commission after the date of enactment of 8 this paragraph.’’. 9 (b) RULES.—The Commodity Futures Trading Com- 10 mission may issue any rules that are necessary to carry 11 out paragraph (3) of section 23(b) of the Commodity Ex- 12 change Act (7 U.S.C. 26(b)) (as added by paragraph (1)). 13 SEC. 4. MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS. 14 (a) CFTC WHISTLEBLOWER PROGRAM EDUCATION 15 INITIATIVES.—Section 23(g)(2) of the Commodity Ex- 16 change Act (7 U.S.C. 26(g)(2)) is amended— 17 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 18 the end; 19 (2) in subparagraph (B), by striking the period 20 at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 21 (3) by adding at the end the following: 22 ‘‘(C) the funding of initiatives designed to 23 educate stakeholders regarding the incentives 24 and protections available under this section, in- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:03 Oct 29, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4816.IH H4816 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 4816 IH cluding the benefits of those incentives and pro- 1 tections.’’. 2 (b) DEPOSITS INTO CFTC CONSUMER PROTECTION 3 FUND.—Section 23(g)(3)(A) of the Commodity Exchange 4 Act (7 U.S.C. 26(g)(3)(A)) is amended by striking 5 ‘‘$100,000,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$150,000,000’’. 6 (c) AVAILABILITY OF CERTAIN CFTC INFORMATION 7 TO GOVERNMENT AGENCIES.—Section 23(h)(2)(C) of the 8 Commodity Exchange Act (7 U.S.C. 26(h)(2)(C)) is 9 amended— 10 (1) in clause (i)— 11 (A) in subclause (II), by striking ‘‘jurisdic- 12 tion;’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘jurisdiction, 13 including— 14 ‘‘(aa) the Federal Trade 15 Commission; 16 ‘‘(bb) the Internal Revenue 17 Service; and 18 ‘‘(cc) the Department of 19 State;’’; and 20 (B) in subclause (VI), by inserting ‘‘or 21 other foreign law enforcement authority’’ before 22 the period at the end; and 23 (2) in clause (ii)— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:03 Oct 29, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4816.IH H4816 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 4816 IH (A) by striking ‘‘Each’’ and inserting the 1 following: 2 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—Each’’; 3 (B) in subclause (I) (as so designated), by 4 inserting ‘‘subclauses (I) through (V) of’’ before 5 ‘‘clause (i)’’; and 6 (C) by adding at the end the following: 7 ‘‘(II) FOREIGN AUTHORITIES.— 8 An entity described in subclause (VI) 9 of clause (i) shall maintain informa- 10 tion described in that clause in ac- 11 cordance with such assurances of con- 12 fidentiality as the Commission deter- 13 mines appropriate.’’. 14 (d) TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS.—Section 23(f)(3) of 15 the Commodity Exchange Act (7 U.S.C. 26(f)(3)) is 16 amended by striking ‘‘section 7064’’ and inserting ‘‘sec- 17 tion 706’’. 18 (e) CLARIFICATIONS REGARDING PERFORMANCE 19 EVALUATIONS FOR THE FOREIGN SERVICE.—Section 20 2302(a)(2)(viii) of title 5, United States Code, is amended 21 by striking ‘‘or under title 38’’ and inserting ‘‘, under title 22 38, or under the Foreign Service Act of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 23 3901 et seq.)’’. 24 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:03 Oct 29, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4816.IH H4816 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS