I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2490 

To amend the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 to provide for 

whistleblower incentives and protection, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 6, 2023 

Mr. EMMER (for himself, Mr. DONALDS, Mr. LUETKEMEYER, Mr. MEUSER, 

and Mr. POSEY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To amend the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 

to provide for 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 ‘‘CFPB Whistleblower 

5 Incentives and Protection Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. BUREAU WHISTLEBLOWER INCENTIVES AND PRO2 TECTION. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Consumer Financial Protec4 tion Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5481 et seq.) is amended by 

5 inserting after section 1017 the following: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 1017A. WHISTLEBLOWER INCENTIVES AND PROTEC7 TION. 

8 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

9 ‘‘(1) ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEEDING OR COURT

10 ACTION.—The term ‘administrative proceeding or 

11 court action’ means any judicial or administrative 

12 action brought by the Bureau that results in mone13 tary sanctions exceeding $1,000,000. 

14 ‘‘(2) FUND.—The term ‘Fund’ means the ‘Con15 sumer Financial Civil Penalty Fund’ established 

16 under section 1017(d)(1). 

17 ‘‘(3) MONETARY SANCTIONS.—The term ‘mone18 tary sanctions’, when used with respect to any ad19 ministrative proceeding or court action means any 

20 monies, including penalties, disgorgement, restitu21 tion, or interest, ordered to be paid or other 

22 amounts of relief obtained under section 1055(a)(2). 

23 ‘‘(4) ORIGINAL INFORMATION.—The term 

24 ‘original information’ means information that— 

25 ‘‘(A) is derived from the independent 

26 knowledge or analysis of a whistleblower; 


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1 ‘‘(B) is not known to the Bureau from any 

2 other source, unless the whistleblower is the 

3 original source of the information; 

4 ‘‘(C) is not exclusively derived from an al5 legation made in a judicial or administrative 

6 hearing, in a governmental report, hearing, or 

7 from the news media, unless the whistleblower 

8 is a source of the information; and 

9 ‘‘(D) is not exclusively derived from an al10 legation made in an audit, examination, or in11 vestigation. 

12 ‘‘(5) SUCCESSFUL ENFORCEMENT.—The term 

13 ‘successful enforcement’, when used with respect to 

14 any administrative proceeding or court action, in15 cludes any settlement of such action. 

16 ‘‘(6) WHISTLEBLOWER.—The term ‘whistle17 blower’ means any individual, or 2 or more individ18 uals acting jointly, who provides original information 

19 relating to a violation of Federal consumer financial 

20 law, consistent with any rule issued by the Bureau 

21 under this section. 

22 ‘‘(b) AWARDS.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In any administrative pro24 ceeding or court action the Bureau, subject to rules 

25 prescribed by the Bureau and subject to subsection 


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1 (c), shall pay an award or awards to 1 or more whis2 tleblowers who voluntarily provided original informa3 tion that led to the successful enforcement of the ad4 ministrative proceeding or court action in an aggre5 gate amount equal to— 

6 ‘‘(A) not less than the greater of— 

7 ‘‘(i) 10 percent, in total, of monetary 

8 sanctions imposed and collected in the ad9 ministrative proceeding or court action; or 

10 ‘‘(ii) $50,000; and 

11 ‘‘(B) not more than 30 percent, in total, of 

12 such monetary sanctions. 

13 ‘‘(2) PAYMENT OF AWARDS.—Any amount paid 

14 under paragraph (1) shall be paid from the Fund. 

15 ‘‘(3) AWARD MAXIMUM.—Notwithstanding any 

16 other provision in this section, the maximum award 

17 to any single whistleblower is limited to $5,000,000. 

18 ‘‘(c) DETERMINATION OF AMOUNT OF AWARD; DE19 NIAL OF AWARD.— 

20 ‘‘(1) DETERMINATION OF AMOUNT OF

21 AWARD.— 

22 ‘‘(A) DISCRETION.—The determination of 

23 the percentage amount of an award made under 

24 subsection (b) shall be in the discretion of the 

25 Bureau. 


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1 ‘‘(B) CRITERIA.—In determining the per2 centage amount of an award made under sub3 section (b), the Bureau shall take into consider4 ation— 

5 ‘‘(i) the significance of the informa6 tion provided by the whistleblower to the 

7 successful enforcement of the administra8 tive proceeding or court action; 

9 ‘‘(ii) the degree of assistance provided 

10 by the whistleblower and any legal rep11 resentative of the whistleblower in an ad12 ministrative proceeding or court action; 

13 ‘‘(iii) the programmatic interest of the 

14 Bureau in deterring violations of Federal 

15 consumer financial law (including applica16 ble rules) by making awards to whistle17 blowers who provide information that leads 

18 to the successful enforcement of such laws; 

19 and 

20 ‘‘(iv) such additional relevant factors 

21 as the Bureau may establish by rule. 

22 ‘‘(2) DENIAL OF AWARD.—No award under 

23 subsection (b) may be made— 

24 ‘‘(A) to any whistleblower who is, or was at 

25 the time the whistleblower acquired the original 


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1 information submitted to the Bureau, a mem2 ber, officer, or employee of an entity described 

3 in subclauses (I) through (V) of subsection 

4 (h)(1)(C)(i); 

5 ‘‘(B) to any whistleblower who is convicted 

6 of a criminal violation related to the adminis7 trative proceeding or court action for which the 

8 whistleblower otherwise could receive an award 

9 under this section; 

10 ‘‘(C) to any whistleblower who is found to 

11 be liable for the conduct in the administrative 

12 proceeding or court action, or a related action, 

13 for which the whistleblower otherwise could re14 ceive an award under this section; 

15 ‘‘(D) to any whistleblower who planned 

16 and initiated the conduct at issue in the admin17 istrative proceeding or court action for which 

18 the whistleblower otherwise could receive an 

19 award under this section; 

20 ‘‘(E) to any whistleblower who submits in21 formation to the Bureau that is based on the 

22 facts underlying the administrative proceeding 

23 or court action previously submitted by another 

24 whistleblower; 


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1 ‘‘(F) to any whistleblower who knowingly 

2 and willfully makes any false, fictitious, or 

3 fraudulent statement or representation, or who 

4 makes or uses any false writing or document 

5 knowing the same to contain any false, ficti6 tious, or fraudulent statement or entry; and 

7 ‘‘(G) to any whistleblower who fails to sub8 mit information to the Bureau in such form as 

9 the Bureau may, by rule, require. 

10 ‘‘(d) REPRESENTATION.— 

11 ‘‘(1) PERMITTED REPRESENTATION.—Any 

12 whistleblower who makes a claim for an award under 

13 subsection (b) may be represented by counsel. 

14 ‘‘(2) REQUIRED REPRESENTATION.— 

15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Any whistleblower 

16 who anonymously makes a claim for an award 

17 under subsection (b) shall be represented by 

18 counsel if the whistleblower submits the infor19 mation upon which the claim is based. 

20 ‘‘(B) DISCLOSURE OF IDENTITY.—Prior to 

21 the payment of an award, a whistleblower shall 

22 disclose the identity of the whistleblower and 

23 provide such other information as the Bureau 

24 may require, directly or through counsel of the 

25 whistleblower. 


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1 ‘‘(e) NO CONTRACT NECESSARY.—No contract or 

2 other agreement with the Bureau is necessary for any 

3 whistleblower to receive an award under subsection (b), 

4 unless otherwise required by the Bureau by rule. 

5 ‘‘(f) APPEALS.—Any determination made under this 

6 section, including whether, to whom, or in what amount 

7 to make awards, shall be in the discretion of the Bureau. 

8 Any such determination, except the determination of the 

9 amount of an award if the award was made in accordance 

10 with subsection (b), may be appealed to the appropriate 

11 court of appeals of the United States not more than 30 

12 days after the determination is issued by the Bureau. The 

13 court shall review the determination made by the Bureau 

14 in accordance with section 706 of title 5, United States 

15 Code. 

16 ‘‘(g) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—Not later than Octo17 ber 30 of each year, the Bureau shall transmit to the Com18 mittee on Financial Services of the House of Representa19 tives and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban 

20 Affairs of the Senate a report on the Bureau’s whistle21 blower award program under this section, including a de22 scription of the number of awards granted and the types 

23 of cases in which awards were granted during the pre24 ceding fiscal year. 

25 ‘‘(h) PROTECTION OF WHISTLEBLOWERS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) CONFIDENTIALITY.— 

2 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

3 subparagraphs (B) and (C), the Bureau and 

4 any officer or employee of the Bureau, may not 

5 disclose any information, including information 

6 provided by a whistleblower to the Bureau, 

7 which could reasonably be expected to reveal 

8 the identity of a whistleblower, except in ac9 cordance with the provisions of section 552a of 

10 title 5, United States Code, unless and until re11 quired to be disclosed to a defendant or re12 spondent in connection with a public proceeding 

13 instituted by the Bureau or any entity described 

14 in subparagraph (C). For purposes of section 

15 552 of title 5, United States Code, this para16 graph shall be considered a statute described in 

17 subsection (b)(3)(B) of such section 552. 

18 ‘‘(B) EFFECT.—Nothing in this paragraph 

19 is intended to limit the ability of the Attorney 

20 General to present such evidence to a grand 

21 jury or to share such evidence with potential 

22 witnesses or defendants in the course of an on23 going criminal investigation. 

24 ‘‘(C) AVAILABILITY TO GOVERNMENT

25 AGENCIES.— 


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1 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Without the loss 

2 of its status as confidential in the hands of 

3 the Bureau, all information referred to in 

4 subparagraph (A) may, in the discretion of 

5 the Bureau, when determined by the Bu6 reau to be necessary or appropriate, be 

7 made available to— 

8 ‘‘(I) the Department of Justice; 

9 ‘‘(II) an appropriate department 

10 or agency of the Federal Government, 

11 acting within the scope of its jurisdic12 tion; 

13 ‘‘(III) a State attorney general in 

14 connection with any criminal inves15 tigation; 

16 ‘‘(IV) an appropriate department 

17 or agency of any State, acting within 

18 the scope of its jurisdiction; and 

19 ‘‘(V) a foreign regulatory author20 ity. 

21 ‘‘(ii) MAINTENANCE OF INFORMA22 TION.—Each of the entities, agencies, or 

23 persons described in clause (i) shall main24 tain information described in that clause 


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1 as confidential, in accordance with the re2 quirements in subparagraph (A). 

3 ‘‘(2) RIGHTS RETAINED.—Nothing in this sec4 tion shall be deemed to diminish the rights, privi5 leges, or remedies of any whistleblower under section 

6 1057, any other Federal or State law, or under any 

7 collective bargaining agreement. 

8 ‘‘(i) RULEMAKING AUTHORITY.—The Bureau shall 

9 have the authority to issue such rules as may be necessary 

10 or appropriate to implement the provisions of this section. 

11 ‘‘(j) ORIGINAL INFORMATION.—Information sub12 mitted to the Bureau by a whistleblower in accordance 

13 with rules implementing this section shall not lose its sta14 tus as original information solely because the whistle15 blower submitted such information prior to the effective 

16 date of such rules, provided such information was sub17 mitted after the date of enactment of this section.’’. 

18 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

19 under section 1(b) of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform 

20 and Consumer Protection Act is amended by inserting 

21 after the item relating to section 1017 the following: 

‘‘Sec. 1017A. Whistleblower incentives and protection.’’. 

22 SEC. 3. AMENDMENT TO THE CONSUMER FINANCIAL CIVIL 

23 PENALTY FUND. 

24 Section 1017(d)(2) of the Consumer Financial Pro25 tection Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5497(d)(2)) is amended 


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1 by striking ‘‘under the Federal consumer financial laws.’’ 

2 and inserting ‘‘under the Federal consumer financial laws 

3 and for awards authorized under section 1017A.’’. 

Æ 


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