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 Reform, 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. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Whistleblower Pro5 grams Improvement Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. WHISTLEBLOWER PROTECTIONS FOR INTERNAL 

2 DISCLOSURES. 

3 Section 23 of the Commodity Exchange Act (7 U.S.C. 

4 26) is amended— 

5 (1) in subsection (a)(7)— 

6 (A) by striking ‘‘The term’’ and inserting 

7 the following: 

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term’’; and 

9 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(B) SPECIAL RULE.—Solely for the pur11 poses of subsection (h)(1), the term ‘whistle12 blower’ includes any individual who takes, or 2 

13 or more individuals acting jointly who take, an 

14 action described in subsection (h)(1)(A).’’; and 

15 (2) in subsection (h)(1)(A)— 

16 (A) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘or’’ at the 

17 end; 

18 (B) in clause (ii), by striking the period at 

19 the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

20 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

21 ‘‘(iii) in providing information regard22 ing any conduct that the whistleblower rea23 sonably believes constitutes a violation of 

24 any law, rule, or regulation subject to the 

25 jurisdiction of the Commission to— 


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1 ‘‘(I) a person with supervisory 

2 authority over the whistleblower at the 

3 employer of the whistleblower, if that 

4 employer is an entity registered with, 

5 or required to be registered with, the 

6 Commission, a self-regulatory organi7 zation, or a State securities commis8 sion or office performing like func9 tions; or 

10 ‘‘(II) another individual working 

11 for the employer described in sub12 clause (I) who the whistleblower rea13 sonably believes has the authority— 

14 ‘‘(aa) to investigate, dis15 cover, or terminate the mis16 conduct; or 

17 ‘‘(bb) to take any other ac18 tion to address the misconduct.’’. 

19 SEC. 3. PROMPT PAYMENT OF AWARDS. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 23(b) of the Commodity 

21 Exchange Act (7 U.S.C. 26) is amended by adding at the 

22 end the following: 

23 ‘‘(3) TIMELY PROCESSING OF CLAIMS.— 

24 ‘‘(A) INITIAL DISPOSITION.— 


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1 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Except as pro2 vided in subparagraph (B), and subject to 

3 clause (ii), the Commission shall make an 

4 initial disposition with respect to a claim 

5 submitted by a whistleblower for an award 

6 under this section (referred to in this para7 graph as an ‘award claim’) not later than 

8 1 year after the deadline established by the 

9 Commission, by rule, for the whistleblower 

10 to file the award claim. 

11 ‘‘(ii) MULTIPLE ACTIONS.—If a cov12 ered judicial or administrative action in13 volves 1 or more related actions, the re14 quirement under clause (i) shall apply with 

15 respect to the latest deadline with respect 

16 to the actions. 

17 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTIONS.— 

18 ‘‘(i) INITIAL EXTENSION.—If the Di19 rector of the Division of Enforcement of 

20 the Commission (referred to in this para21 graph as the ‘Director’), or the designee of 

22 the Director, determines that an award 

23 claim is sufficiently complex or involves 

24 more than 1 whistleblower, or if other good 

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1 not reasonably satisfy the requirement 

2 under subparagraph (A), the Director or 

3 the designee, as applicable, after providing 

4 notice to the Chairman of the Commission 

5 (referred to in this paragraph as the 

6 ‘Chairman’), may extend the deadline with 

7 respect to the satisfaction of that subpara8 graph by not more than 180 days. 

9 ‘‘(ii) ADDITIONAL EXTENSIONS.—If, 

10 after providing an extension under clause 

11 (i), the Director, or the designee of the Di12 rector, determines that the Commission 

13 cannot reasonably satisfy the requirement 

14 under subparagraph (A) with respect to an 

15 award claim, as extended under that 

16 clause, the Director or the designee, as ap17 plicable, after providing notice to the 

18 Chairman, may extend the period in which 

19 the Commission may satisfy subparagraph 

20 (A) by 1 additional 180-day period. 

21 ‘‘(iii) NOTICE TO WHISTLEBLOWER

22 REQUIRED.—If the Director, or the des23 ignee of the Director, exercises authority 

24 under clause (i) or (ii), the Director or the 

25 designee, as applicable, shall submit to the 


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1 whistleblower who filed the award claim 

2 that is subject to that action by the Direc3 tor or the designee a written notification of 

4 that action by the Director or the designee. 

5 ‘‘(C) APPLICABILITY.—This paragraph 

6 shall apply only to an award claim that is time7 ly submitted under a deadline established by 

8 the Commission after the date of enactment of 

9 this paragraph.’’. 

10 (b) RULES.—The Commodity Futures Trading Com11 mission may issue any rules that are necessary to carry 

12 out paragraph (3) of section 23(b) of the Commodity Ex13 change Act (7 U.S.C. 26(b)) (as added by paragraph (1)). 

14 SEC. 4. MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS. 

15 (a) CFTC WHISTLEBLOWER PROGRAM EDUCATION

16 INITIATIVES.—Section 23(g)(2) of the Commodity Ex17 change Act (7 U.S.C. 26(g)(2)) is amended— 

18 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

19 the end; 

20 (2) in subparagraph (B), by striking the period 

21 at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

22 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

23 ‘‘(C) the funding of initiatives designed to 

24 educate stakeholders regarding the incentives 

25 and protections available under this section, inVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:03 Oct 29, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4816.IH H4816

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1 cluding the benefits of those incentives and pro2 tections.’’. 

3 (b) DEPOSITS INTO CFTC CONSUMER PROTECTION

4 FUND.—Section 23(g)(3)(A) of the Commodity Exchange 

5 Act (7 U.S.C. 26(g)(3)(A)) is amended by striking 

6 ‘‘$100,000,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$150,000,000’’. 

7 (c) AVAILABILITY OF CERTAIN CFTC INFORMATION

8 TO GOVERNMENT AGENCIES.—Section 23(h)(2)(C) of the 

9 Commodity Exchange Act (7 U.S.C. 26(h)(2)(C)) is 

10 amended— 

11 (1) in clause (i)— 

12 (A) in subclause (II), by striking ‘‘jurisdic13 tion;’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘jurisdiction, 

14 including— 

15 ‘‘(aa) the Federal Trade 

16 Commission; 

17 ‘‘(bb) the Internal Revenue 

18 Service; and 

19 ‘‘(cc) the Department of 

20 State;’’; and 

21 (B) in subclause (VI), by inserting ‘‘or 

22 other foreign law enforcement authority’’ before 

23 the period at the end; and 

24 (2) in clause (ii)— 


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1 (A) by striking ‘‘Each’’ and inserting the 

2 following: 

3 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—Each’’; 

4 (B) in subclause (I) (as so designated), by 

5 inserting ‘‘subclauses (I) through (V) of’’ before 

6 ‘‘clause (i)’’; and 

7 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(II) FOREIGN AUTHORITIES.— 

9 An entity described in subclause (VI) 

10 of clause (i) shall maintain informa11 tion described in that clause in ac12 cordance with such assurances of con13 fidentiality as the Commission deter14 mines appropriate.’’. 

15 (d) TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS.—Section 23(f)(3) of 

16 the Commodity Exchange Act (7 U.S.C. 26(f)(3)) is 

17 amended by striking ‘‘section 7064’’ and inserting ‘‘sec18 tion 706’’. 

19 (e) CLARIFICATIONS REGARDING PERFORMANCE

20 EVALUATIONS FOR THE FOREIGN SERVICE.—Section 

21 2302(a)(2)(viii) of title 5, United States Code, is amended 

22 by striking ‘‘or under title 38’’ and inserting ‘‘, under title 

23 38, or under the Foreign Service Act of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 

24 3901 et seq.)’’. 

Æ 


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