More than three-quarters of Americans would blow the whistle on wrongdoing at their workplace, according to a newly released survey — but only if they could do so anonymously, without fear of reprisal, and — and this is a big "and" — there was a monetary reward involved.
根据一项新发布的调查,超过四分之三的美国人会告发工作场所中的不法行为,不过他们只有在匿名、不用担心报复的情况下才会告密,而且,很重要的一点是,必须有赏金才会这么做。
The survey, conducted by business and securities law firm Labaton Sucharow, was designed to test public awareness of the new whistleblower program established by the Dodd-Frank financial reform legislation passed by Congress and signed by President Obama in 2010. That law strengthened whistleblower protections against retaliation and provided for financial incentives to report wrongdoing.
2010年国会通过并经由奥巴马总统签署的多德-弗兰克金融改革法案创立了一个新告密者项目。商业和证券律师事务所Labaton Sucharow开展的这一调查是为了测试公众对该告密者项目的意识。该法案加强了保护告密者不受报复的措施,并向告发不法行为者提供了各种经济奖励。
One of the more eyebrow-raising findings of the poll was that 34 percent of respondents said they knew of "wrongdoing" in their own workplace. But 68 percent said they were not aware of the new federal whistleblower program, which is being operated by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
这一民意调查让人惊讶的发现之一是,34%的应答者说,他们知道自己工作的地方存在“不法行为”。但68%的人说他们不知道联邦政府有这个新告密者项目。该项目是由证券交易委员会运作的。
The financial incentive component of the whistleblower program is designed to give employees a substantial nudge — if their conscience alone isn't sufficient — when faced with the choice of reporting or not reporting wrongdoing to the feds. The program offers awards of between 10 and 30 percent in cases where information leads to an enforcement action in which over $1 million in sanctions is ordered.
该告密者项目设立赏金的目的是在员工们犹豫要不要向联邦政府检举不法行为时,如果良心的动力不足,这可以有力地推他们一把。如果告密者提供的信息所导致的制裁处罚金额超过100万美元,该项目将向告密者发放罚金的10%到30%的赏金。
The SEC says the new whistleblower rules, which became effective on August 12, resulted in 334 complaints through the end of September. The most frequently reported alleged wrongdoing includes cases of market manipulation, offering fraud, insider trading, and cases involving corporate and financial disclosure. The agency received tips from 37 states, as well as several countries.
美国证券交易委员会称,新的告密者条例于8月12日生效,到9月底已经收到了334份控诉。最常被举报的不法行为包括市场操纵、发行诈欺、内幕交易,以及企业和财务资料的披露。该机构收到了来自美国37个州、以及其他几个国家的举报信息。
词汇点津:
blow the whistle 告发
whistleblower 告密者