I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 5714 
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 
OCTOBER 25, 2021 
Mr. EMMER 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. 
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 ‘‘CFPB Whistleblower 
Incentives and Protection Act’’. 
SEC. 2. BUREAU WHISTLEBLOWER INCENTIVES AND PRO-
TECTION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Consumer Financial Protec-
tion Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5481 et seq.) is amended by 
inserting after section 1017 the following: 
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‘‘SEC. 1017A. WHISTLEBLOWER INCENTIVES AND PROTEC-
TION. 
‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEEDING OR COURT 
ACTION.—The term ‘administrative proceeding or 
court action’ means any judicial or administrative 
action brought by the Bureau that results in mone-
tary sanctions exceeding $1,000,000. 
‘‘(2) FUND.—The term ‘Fund’ means the ‘Con-
sumer Financial Civil Penalty Fund’ established 
under section 1017(d)(1). 
‘‘(3) MONETARY SANCTIONS.—The term ‘mone-
tary sanctions’, when used with respect to any ad-
ministrative proceeding or court action means any 
monies, including penalties, disgorgement, restitu-
tion, or interest, ordered to be paid or other 
amounts of relief obtained under section 1055(a)(2). 
‘‘(4) 
ORIGINAL
INFORMATION.—The 
term 
‘original information’ means information that— 
‘‘(A) is derived from the independent 
knowledge or analysis of a whistleblower; 
‘‘(B) is not known to the Bureau from any 
other source, unless the whistleblower is the 
original source of the information; 
‘‘(C) is not exclusively derived from an al-
legation made in a judicial or administrative 
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hearing, in a governmental report, hearing, or 
from the news media, unless the whistleblower 
is a source of the information; and 
‘‘(D) is not exclusively derived from an al-
legation made in an audit, examination, or in-
vestigation. 
‘‘(5) SUCCESSFUL
ENFORCEMENT.—The term 
‘successful enforcement’, when used with respect to 
any administrative proceeding or court action, in-
cludes any settlement of such action. 
‘‘(6) WHISTLEBLOWER.—The term ‘whistle-
blower’ means any individual, or 2 or more individ-
uals acting jointly, who provides original information 
relating to a violation of Federal consumer financial 
law, consistent with any rule issued by the Bureau 
under this section. 
‘‘(b) AWARDS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In any administrative pro-
ceeding or court action the Bureau, subject to rules 
prescribed by the Bureau and subject to subsection 
(c), shall pay an award or awards to 1 or more whis-
tleblowers who voluntarily provided original informa-
tion that led to the successful enforcement of the ad-
ministrative proceeding or court action in an aggre-
gate amount equal to— 
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‘‘(A) not less than the greater of— 
‘‘(i) 10 percent, in total, of monetary 
sanctions imposed and collected in the ad-
ministrative proceeding or court action; or 
‘‘(ii) $50,000; and 
‘‘(B) not more than 30 percent, in total, of 
such monetary sanctions. 
‘‘(2) PAYMENT OF AWARDS.—Any amount paid 
under paragraph (1) shall be paid from the Fund. 
‘‘(3) AWARD MAXIMUM.—Notwithstanding any 
other provision in this section, the maximum award 
to any single whistleblower is limited to $5,000,000. 
‘‘(c) DETERMINATION OF AMOUNT OF AWARD; DE-
NIAL OF AWARD.— 
‘‘(1) 
DETERMINATION
OF
AMOUNT
OF 
AWARD.— 
‘‘(A) DISCRETION.—The determination of 
the percentage amount of an award made under 
subsection (b) shall be in the discretion of the 
Bureau. 
‘‘(B) CRITERIA.—In determining the per-
centage amount of an award made under sub-
section (b), the Bureau shall take into consider-
ation— 
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‘‘(i) the significance of the informa-
tion provided by the whistleblower to the 
successful enforcement of the administra-
tive proceeding or court action; 
‘‘(ii) the degree of assistance provided 
by the whistleblower and any legal rep-
resentative of the whistleblower in an ad-
ministrative proceeding or court action; 
‘‘(iii) the programmatic interest of the 
Bureau in deterring violations of Federal 
consumer financial law (including applica-
ble rules) by making awards to whistle-
blowers who provide information that leads 
to the successful enforcement of such laws; 
and 
‘‘(iv) such additional relevant factors 
as the Bureau may establish by rule. 
‘‘(2) DENIAL
OF
AWARD.—No award under 
subsection (b) may be made— 
‘‘(A) to any whistleblower who is, or was at 
the time the whistleblower acquired the original 
information submitted to the Bureau, a mem-
ber, officer, or employee of an entity described 
in subclauses (I) through (V) of subsection 
(h)(1)(C)(i); 
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knowing the same to contain any false, ficti-
tious, or fraudulent statement or entry; and 
‘‘(G) to any whistleblower who fails to sub-
mit information to the Bureau in such form as 
the Bureau may, by rule, require. 
‘‘(d) REPRESENTATION.— 
‘‘(1) 
PERMITTED
REPRESENTATION.—Any 
whistleblower who makes a claim for an award under 
subsection (b) may be represented by counsel. 
‘‘(2) REQUIRED REPRESENTATION.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—Any whistleblower 
who anonymously makes a claim for an award 
under subsection (b) shall be represented by 
counsel if the whistleblower submits the infor-
mation upon which the claim is based. 
‘‘(B) DISCLOSURE OF IDENTITY.—Prior to 
the payment of an award, a whistleblower shall 
disclose the identity of the whistleblower and 
provide such other information as the Bureau 
may require, directly or through counsel of the 
whistleblower. 
‘‘(e) NO CONTRACT NECESSARY.—No contract or 
other agreement with the Bureau is necessary for any 
whistleblower to receive an award under subsection (b), 
unless otherwise required by the Bureau by rule. 
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‘‘(f) APPEALS.—Any determination made under this 
section, including whether, to whom, or in what amount 
to make awards, shall be in the discretion of the Bureau. 
Any such determination, except the determination of the 
amount of an award if the award was made in accordance 
with subsection (b), may be appealed to the appropriate 
court of appeals of the United States not more than 30 
days after the determination is issued by the Bureau. The 
court shall review the determination made by the Bureau 
in accordance with section 706 of title 5, United States 
Code. 
‘‘(g) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—Not later than Octo-
ber 30 of each year, the Bureau shall transmit to the Com-
mittee on Financial Services of the House of Representa-
tives and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban 
Affairs of the Senate a report on the Bureau’s whistle-
blower award program under this section, including a de-
scription of the number of awards granted and the types 
of cases in which awards were granted during the pre-
ceding fiscal year. 
‘‘(h) PROTECTION OF WHISTLEBLOWERS.— 
‘‘(1) CONFIDENTIALITY.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 
subparagraphs (B) and (C), the Bureau and 
any officer or employee of the Bureau, may not 
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disclose any information, including information 
provided by a whistleblower to the Bureau, 
which could reasonably be expected to reveal 
the identity of a whistleblower, except in ac-
cordance with the provisions of section 552a of 
title 5, United States Code, unless and until re-
quired to be disclosed to a defendant or re-
spondent in connection with a public proceeding 
instituted by the Bureau or any entity described 
in subparagraph (C). For purposes of section 
552 of title 5, United States Code, this para-
graph shall be considered a statute described in 
subsection (b)(3)(B) of such section 552. 
‘‘(B) EFFECT.—Nothing in this paragraph 
is intended to limit the ability of the Attorney 
General to present such evidence to a grand 
jury or to share such evidence with potential 
witnesses or defendants in the course of an on-
going criminal investigation. 
‘‘(C) 
AVAILABILITY
TO
GOVERNMENT 
AGENCIES.— 
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Without the loss 
of its status as confidential in the hands of 
the Bureau, all information referred to in 
subparagraph (A) may, in the discretion of 
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the Bureau, when determined by the Bu-
reau to be necessary or appropriate, be 
made available to-— 
‘‘(I) the Department of Justice; 
‘‘(II) an appropriate department 
or agency of the Federal Government, 
acting within the scope of its jurisdic-
tion; 
‘‘(III) a State attorney general in 
connection with any criminal inves-
tigation; 
‘‘(IV) an appropriate department 
or agency of any State, acting within 
the scope of its jurisdiction; and 
‘‘(V) a foreign regulatory author-
ity. 
‘‘(ii) MAINTENANCE
OF
INFORMA-
TION.—Each of the entities, agencies, or 
persons described in clause (i) shall main-
tain information described in that clause 
as confidential, in accordance with the re-
quirements in subparagraph (A). 
‘‘(2) RIGHTS RETAINED.—Nothing in this sec-
tion shall be deemed to diminish the rights, privi-
leges, or remedies of any whistleblower under section 
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1057, any other Federal or State law, or under any 
collective bargaining agreement. 
‘‘(i) RULEMAKING AUTHORITY.—The Bureau shall 
have the authority to issue such rules as may be necessary 
or appropriate to implement the provisions of this section. 
‘‘(j) ORIGINAL
INFORMATION.—Information sub-
mitted to the Bureau by a whistleblower in accordance 
with rules implementing this section shall not lose its sta-
tus as original information solely because the whistle-
blower submitted such information prior to the effective 
date of such rules, provided such information was sub-
mitted after the date of enactment of this section.’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 
under section 1(b) of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform 
and Consumer Protection Act is amended by inserting 
after the item relating to section 1017 the following: 
‘‘Sec. 1017A. Whistleblower incentives and protection.’’. 
SEC. 3. AMENDMENT TO THE CONSUMER FINANCIAL CIVIL 
PENALTY FUND. 
Section 1017(d)(2) of the Consumer Financial Pro-
tection Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5497(d)(2)) is amended 
by striking ‘‘under the Federal consumer financial laws.’’ 
and inserting ‘‘under the Federal consumer financial laws 
and for awards authorized under section 1017A.’’. 
Æ 
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