SEC Regional Office Director David Bergers recently emphasized the importance of a company’s whistleblower policy when deciding whether to file an enforcement action against a company. Bergers made his comments at an internal investigations panel on December 7, 2012 sponsored by the Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly. For more information about the panel, see Martha Kessler, Bergers Tells Issuers to Preserve Data Upon Learning of Possible Investigation, Bloomberg Securities Regulation & Law Report, 44 SRLR 2280 (Dec. 17, 2012).

Bergers noted that a company should show the SEC that it takes whistleblowers seriously, even if a particular whistleblower has issues that the company believes undermine his or her credibility. “We want to see that the company is taking their concerns seriously, and how they are talking about them,” Bergers said. The SEC wants to know that the company is “separating [the allegations] from whatever or whoever is making them.” The company that acknowledges that there has been a whistleblower complaint, but tells the SEC “first let us give you the employment file” may find itself at odds with the SEC’s approach to a whistleblower’s concerns. Although the SEC will consider information about the whistleblower, including material in an employment file, Bergers noted that the agency is primarily interested in what the company does with the whistleblower’s allegations and how it treats the whistleblower.

Let this serve as a reminder of the importance of a well-considered whistleblower policy in preparing for potential communications with the SEC.