SEC now freer to hike whistleblower awards

Color me surprised... this could actually lead to a massive positive sea-change in policing of our financial economy: ``The financial regulatory law signed by President Obama last week grants the SEC the authority to pay up to 30 percent of any monetary sanction to a whistleblower -- even if the whistleblower took part in misconduct. Although the previous law limited payments to insider-trading cases, money can now be doled out for information on any securities law violation.''