By Katanga Johnson

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission proposed Thursday changing the whistleblower rules to allow tipsters to collect bounties more easily.

Changes are being made subject to public review. They would remove a Trump-era rule giving the agency greater flexibility to decide the payouts for whistleblowers.

Critics felt that Trump’s rule discouraged whistleblowers, as it granted the SEC discretion to award lower amounts in certain cases.

According to the new proposal, the SEC is guaranteed that it will take into account the dollar amount of any potential award in order for “limited purposes” rather than increasing or decreasing it.

Tipsters would have an easier time claiming awards if they provide information that leads to successful enforcement actions by federal agencies. This is known under the program, as a ‘related action’.

Gary Gensler, Chair of the SEC stated in a statement the new changes are intended to incentivize whistleblowers and reward them for reporting violations to the agency.

Congress established the SEC’s Whistleblower Program in response to the financial crisis that hit 2007-2009. The program receives thousands upon thousands of tips each year.

The SEC has the ability to reward tippers whose initial information results in a penalty of more than $1 million. These tipsters can receive rewards between 10% and 30% of that fine.

In certain enforcement actions, the SEC might also be able to pay a reward if the settlement relies on information provided by the tipster.

The changes proposed to the related rule will give tipsters greater control over whether they receive an award by the SEC, or from the authority that administers the award program.

It would be unnecessary for the whistleblower to choose which award program to accept until the amount would have been determined by both the programs.