Whistleblower protections for employees of consumer financial services organizations - Dodd-Frank Title X

"Dodd-Frank establishes a new set of whistleblower protections for employees
...with respect to— (i) financial institutions, brokers, or dealers; (ii) insurance companies...
[and] organizations that provide financial services to consumers.

The protections cover both internal and external complaints.

The whistleblower protections are far broader than those of SOX 806,
because they are not limited to employees of publicly-traded companies,
but extend to all employees of entities involved in the provision of consumer financial services
– which the statute defines expansively.

Protected whistleblowing activity is defined more broadly than it is under SOX.

A ―covered employee is ―any individual performing tasks
related to the offering or provision of a consumer financial product or service.

Sec. 1057(b).

A consumer financial product or service has an expansive definition.

It includes extending credit, ...acting as a custodian for a consumer,

...providing consumers with financial advisory services,

debt management services or credit counseling services,

and collecting and distributing credit or other financial information concerning consumers

which will be used in the decision to offer a consumer a financial product or service.

The new Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection

has the authority to include additional activities in the definition.

Sec. 1002(5). www.consumerfinance.gov.

2. What is protected activity: internal and external complaints - Sec. 1057(a)

A covered employer or service provider is prohibited from terminating
or otherwise discriminating against a covered employee (or the employee‘s representative)
because the employee or his representative:

(1) provided, caused to be provided, or is about to provide or cause to be provided,
information to the employer, the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection,
or any other State, local, or Federal, government authority or law enforcement agency,
relating to any act or omission that the employee reasonably believes
is a violation of any provision Title X of Dodd-Frank (the Consumer Protection Act of 2010),
or any other provision of law that is subject to the jurisdiction of the Bureau,
or any rule, order, standard, or prohibition prescribed by the Bureau;

(2) testified or will testify in any proceeding
resulting from the administration or enforcement of any provision of Title X,
or any other provision of law that is subject to the jurisdiction of the Bureau,
or any rule, order, standard, or prohibition prescribed by the Bureau;

(3) filed, instituted, or caused to be filed or instituted any proceeding
under any Federal consumer financial law;

or (4) objected to, or refused to participate in, any activity, policy, practice, or assigned task
that the employee (or other such person) reasonably believed to be in violation
of any law, rule, order, standard, or prohibition, subject to the jurisdiction of,
or enforceable by, the Bureau.

These listed protected activities go beyond those in SOX.

Some cases under SOX Sec. 806
had ruled that merely refusing to participate in unlawful activity
did constitute protected activity.

Such an objection does constitute whistleblowing under Dodd-Frank Title X.

http://www.rcbalaw.com/assets/files/New%20and%20Improved%20Whistleblower%20Protections%20for%20Employees.pdf