Since mid-2011, the SEC's Office of the Whistleblower has been taking in tips about alleged securities fraud. Via a recent request made under the Freedom of Information Act, the WSJ set out to answer an interesting question: from what fields and professions do these whistleblowers come from? Based on the 3,600 whistleblowers to date who listed a job title with their submissions, there are a few professions that show up more than others but overall the answer seems to be that they come from everywhere.

According to the WSJ, the most common group of whistleblowers was the 365 complainants who identifed themselves as "Retirees." "Investors" were the second most common (290 complaints), followed by "Engineers" (138 complaints). Beyond that, SEC whistleblowers appear to come from "all walks of life," according to the WSJ's analysis of the FOIA response:

They include a diesel mechanic, an antiques dealer and a longshoreman; there's an agronomist, two people who listed themselves as "ex-wife" and a veterinarian. There are also a number of current and retired military servicemen and enough hospitality and service employees to suggest executives should watch what they say in restaurants, bars, hotels and taxis.

The SEC's whistleblowers to date also include four "adult entertainers," a number the WSJ suggests may be lower than it could be due to the "sacrosanct" code of silence in the prostitution world. The proprietor of the Moonlight Bunny Ranch brothel in Nevada said that although the brothel's clients constantly reveal material, nonpublic information, his employees would be "fired and disavowed if they were to release privileged information about any of the brothels' clients."

Topics