I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 5485 
To amend the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to expand the definition 
of whistleblower and increase anti-retaliation protections for whistle-
blowers, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 5, 2021 
Mr. GREEN of Texas introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Financial Services 
A BILL 
To amend the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to expand 
the definition of whistleblower and increase anti-retalia-
tion protections for whistleblowers, and for other pur-
poses. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Whistleblower Protec-
tion Reform Act of 2021’’. 
SEC. 2. WHISTLEBLOWER PROTECTION ENHANCEMENTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 21F of the Securities Ex-
change Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78u–6) is amended— 
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(1) in subsection (a)— 
(A) in paragraph (4)— 
(i) by striking subparagraph (A) and 
inserting the following: 
‘‘(A) any monies, including penalties, 
disgorgement, and interest, ordered to be paid 
or otherwise ordered as relief, including in— 
‘‘(i) a non-prosecution agreement en-
tered by the Attorney General; 
‘‘(ii) a deferred prosecution agreement 
entered by the Attorney General; and 
‘‘(iii) an agreement entered by the 
Commission to settle a covered judicial or 
administrative proceeding; and’’; 
(ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 
the period at the end and inserting ‘‘; 
and’’; and 
(iii) by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(C) any monies recovered by a bank-
ruptcy trustee as a result of the original infor-
mation provided by a whistleblower.’’; and 
(B) in paragraph (6)— 
(i) 
by 
striking 
‘‘(6) 
WHISTLE-
BLOWER.—The term’’ and inserting: 
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‘‘(6) WHISTLEBLOWER.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term’’; and 
(ii) by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(B) SPECIAL RULE.—Solely for the pur-
poses of subsection (h)(1), the term ‘whistle-
blower’ shall also include any individual who 
takes 
an 
action 
described 
in 
subsection 
(h)(1)(A), or two or more individuals acting 
jointly who take an action described in sub-
section (h)(1)(A), including as part of the job 
duties of such individual or individuals.’’; 
(2) in subsection (b), by adding at the end the 
following: 
‘‘(3) RELATED
ACTIONS.—When determining 
whether to pay an award to a whistleblower in a re-
lated action, the Commission may not consider 
whether another whistleblower reward program has 
a more direct or relevant connection to such related 
action based on information provided by such whis-
tleblower.’’; 
(3) in subsection (c)(1)(B)(ii), by striking ‘‘the 
balance of the Fund’’ and inserting ‘‘the balance of 
the Investor Protection Fund or the amount of the 
potential award’’; 
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(4) in subsection (g)(2)— 
(A) in subparagraph (A), by striking 
‘‘and’’ at the end; 
(B) in subparagraph (B), by striking the 
period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(C) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(C) funding the operations of the Securi-
ties Exchange Commission Office of the Whis-
tleblower.’’; 
(5) in subsection (h)(1)— 
(A) in subparagraph (A)— 
(i) by striking ‘‘, directly or indi-
rectly,’’; 
(ii) by striking ‘‘discharge,’’ and in-
serting ‘‘directly or indirectly discharge’’; 
(iii) by striking ‘‘employment’’ and in-
serting ‘‘employment or post-employment’’; 
(iv) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘to the 
Commission’’ and inserting ‘‘to the Com-
mission orally or in writing’’; 
(v) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘or’’ at 
the end; 
(vi) in clause (iii)— 
(I) by striking ‘‘that are required 
or protected under’’ and inserting 
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‘‘with respect to any conduct that the 
whistleblower reasonably believes evi-
dences a violation of or is protected 
under’’; and 
(II) by striking the period at the 
end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 
(vii) by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(iv) in providing information regard-
ing any conduct that has occurred, is ongo-
ing, or is about to occur that the whistle-
blower reasonably believes constitutes a 
violation of any law, rule, or regulation 
subject to the jurisdiction of the Commis-
sion— 
‘‘(I) a person with supervisory 
authority over the whistleblower at the 
whistleblower’s employer, where such 
employer is an entity registered with 
or required to be registered with the 
Commission, a self-regulatory organi-
zation, or a State securities commis-
sion or office performing like func-
tions; or 
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tial 
evidence, 
including 
evidence 
that— 
‘‘(aa) the official that took 
the personnel action knew of the 
protected conduct engaged in by 
the whistleblower; and 
‘‘(bb) the official that took 
the personnel action did so within 
a period of time such that a rea-
sonable person could conclude 
that the protected conduct en-
gaged in by the whistleblower 
was a contributing factor in the 
personnel action.’’; and 
(ii) in clause (iii)(I)(bb), by striking 
‘‘3’’ and inserting ‘‘6’’; and 
(C) in subparagraph (C)— 
(i) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 
the end; 
(ii) by striking clause (iii) and insert-
ing the following: 
‘‘(iii) the payment of compensatory 
damages, including compensation for litiga-
tion costs, expert witness fees, and reason-
able attorneys’ fees; and’’; and 
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(iii) by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(iv) any other appropriate remedy as 
determined by the Board with respect to 
the conduct that is the subject of the com-
plaint.’’; and 
(6) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(k) NONENFORCEABILITY OF CERTAIN PROVISIONS 
WAIVING RIGHTS AND REMEDIES OR REQUIRING ARBI-
TRATION.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The rights and remedies 
provided under this section may not be waived by 
any agreement, policy form, or condition of employ-
ment, including by a predispute arbitration agree-
ment. 
‘‘(2) PREDISPUTE ARBITRATION AGREEMENT.— 
If a predispute arbitration agreement requires arbi-
tration of a dispute arising under this section such 
predispute arbitration agreement is not valid or en-
forceable. 
‘‘(3) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This subsection shall 
be effective with respect to any action or agreement 
that is filed on or after, or that is pending as of, the 
date of enactment of this Act.’’. 
(b) TIMELY PROCESSING OF CLAIMS.— 
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(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 21F(b) of the Secu-
rities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78u–6(b)) 
is amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(3) TIMELY PROCESSING OF CLAIMS.— 
‘‘(A) INITIAL DISPOSITION.— 
‘‘(i) IN
GENERAL.—Except as pro-
vided in subparagraph (B), the Commis-
sion shall make an initial disposition with 
respect to any claim timely submitted by a 
whistleblower for an award under this sec-
tion not later than 1 year after the submis-
sion deadline established by the Commis-
sion, by rule, for a whistleblower to file a 
claim. 
‘‘(ii) MULTIPLE ACTIONS.—If a claim 
submitted by a whistleblower for an award 
under this section involves 1 or more re-
lated actions, the requirement described in 
clause (i) shall apply with respect to the 
latest of the submission deadlines applying 
to such claims. 
‘‘(B) EXCEPTIONS.— 
‘‘(i) INITIAL EXTENSION.—If the Di-
rector of the Division of Enforcement of 
the Commission (in this paragraph re-
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ferred to as the ‘Director’), determines 
that a claim is sufficiently complex or in-
volves more than one whistleblower, or if 
other good cause exists such that, as deter-
mined by the Director, the Commission 
cannot reasonably satisfy the requirements 
described in subparagraph (A), the Direc-
tor may, after providing notice to the Com-
mission, extend the submission deadline es-
tablished by the Commission for a whistle-
blower to file a claim as it applies to such 
by not more than 180 days. 
‘‘(ii) ADDITIONAL
EXTENSIONS.—If, 
after providing an extension under clause 
(i), the Director determines that the Com-
mission cannot reasonably satisfy the re-
quirements under subparagraph (A) with 
respect to an award claim, as extended 
under clause (i), the Director may, after 
providing notice to the Commission, extend 
the period in which the Commission may 
satisfy subparagraph (A) by 1 additional 
180 days. 
‘‘(iii) NOTICE
TO
WHISTLEBLOWER 
REQUIRED.—If the Director exercises the 
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extension authority described under clause 
(i) or clause (ii), the Director shall submit 
to the whistleblower that filed the award 
claim that is subject to that extension ac-
tion by the Director with a written notifi-
cation of such extension action by the Di-
rector or the designee.’’. 
(2) RULES.—The Securities and Exchange 
Commission shall, not later than one year after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, issue such rules 
as the Securities and Exchange Commission deter-
mines necessary to carry out section 21F(b)(3) of 
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. 
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Except as otherwise pro-
vided, the amendments made by this Act shall apply with 
respect to any claim involving a violation of section 
21F(h)(1) of the Securities Act of 1934, including any 
claim in an enforcement action or proceeding brought by 
the Securities and Exchange Commission that is pending 
in any appropriate judicial or administrative forum on the 
date of the enactment of this Act. 
Æ 
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