Executive Summary
- What is new: DOJ’s Antitrust Division announced its Whistleblower Rewards Program, which offers up to 30% of criminal fines over $1 million to individuals reporting original information about eligible antitrust and related criminal offenses.
- Why it matters: The Program incentivizes whistleblowing on antitrust and related offenses, potentially increasing reports from employees, compliance personnel and others, while raising risks of mistaken or mischaracterized submissions.
- What to do next: Companies should consider, among other measures, enhancing antitrust compliance training, establishing robust internal reporting systems, maintaining anti-retaliation policies and promptly investigating claims to mitigate risks.
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The Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (the Division) recently announced its Whistleblower Rewards Program (the Program) in collaboration with the U.S. Postal Service and the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General (the Agencies). The Program incentivizes individuals to report eligible violations to the Division for the opportunity to receive up to 30% of any criminal fines recovered above $1 million.
The July 8, 2025, announcement is part of a broader effort within the department to boost reporting of corporate crimes and the first time the Division is offering financial rewards to whistleblowers.
“Antitrust crimes and related offenses … often occur in secret, making detection a formidable challenge,” Assistant Attorney General Gail Slater of the Division said in a press release. She said the Program is intended to help “break down those walls of secrecy” and create a “pipeline of leads from individuals with firsthand knowledge of criminal antitrust and related offenses” by financially incentivizing those individuals to report suspected antitrust violations.
The prospect of significant bounties will likely spur more whistleblowing to the Antitrust Division, including by compliance personnel who learn of information while doing their jobs. But it will also likely increase the risk of reports of mischaracterized, misunderstood or mistaken information made with an eye toward a lucrative reward.
Eligible Criminal Violations
Under the Program’s memorandum of understanding (MOU), “Eligible Criminal Violations” extend beyond Sherman Antitrust Act offenses to federal offenses affecting public procurement and antitrust investigations. Specifically, these are criminal violations:
- Of Sherman Act §§ 1, 2 and 3, such as price fixing, bid rigging, and market allocation and certain monopolization cases.
- Committed to effectuate, facilitate or conceal violations of the Sherman Act.
- Targeting or affecting federal, state or local public procurement.
- Targeting or affecting the conduct of federal competition investigations or proceedings.
The violation must also affect the Postal Service, its revenues or its property, causing the Postal Service to suffer identifiable harm. While relevant for Program eligibility, this requirement is unlikely to be a significant barrier to recovery, as the Agencies have stated that harm to the Postal Service need not be material or substantially detrimental. Given that the Postal Service interacts with and purchases from a wide range of industries, the harm threshold will likely be met in many of the serious antitrust violations reported to the Division.
Program Authority
The statutory authority for the Program rests in 39 U.S.C. § 2601 and 39 U.S.C. § 404(a)(7), which allow the Postal Service to collect fines and penalties arising from matters affecting the Postal Service and pay a portion to the person who informed the agency about the violation.
Reward Eligibility Requirements
To receive a reward, a whistleblower must voluntarily report original information about an Eligible Criminal Violation that is sufficiently timely, specific and credible, and results in a criminal fine of at least $1 million or an equivalent recovery from a deferred prosecution or nonprosecution agreement. Subject to the Division’s discretion, whistleblowers will generally receive between 15% and 30% of the criminal fine or recovery value.
Among the factors that the Division will use to determine a whistleblower’s award amount are whether the whistleblower:
- Assisted the Division by, for example, interpreting key evidence or explaining complex transactions.
- Faced hardships as a result of reporting or assisting with an investigation.
A whistleblower who participated in the reported activity may be eligible for a reward, unless he or she coerced another party to participate or led or originated the activity. The Division will consider the degree to which a whistleblower participated in the reported activity when deciding the reward amount.
From Compliance Personnel to Whistleblowers
The Division restricts certain individuals from profiting off information they receive about Eligible Criminal Violations by virtue of their role or position. This group includes:
- Compliance personnel.
- Legal representatives bound by the attorney-client privilege.
- Persons with accounting firms and other investigatory firms hired to review possible violations.
The MOU states that whistleblower submissions from these individuals would not reflect “original information,” thereby making the submissions ineligible for a reward.
Yet, the MOU includes a carve-out under which certain compliance personnel may “blow the whistle” and position themselves to receive a reward. Specifically, under the Agencies’ MOU, an employee or affiliate whose principal duties involve compliance or internal auditing may still provide “original information” to the Division if at least 120 days elapsed since the employee or affiliate provided information about the violation to the company’s audit committee, chief legal officer, chief compliance officer or their supervisor.
Moreover, if 120 days have elapsed since the employee or affiliate received information “under circumstances indicating” that the entity’s audit committee, chief legal officer, chief compliance officer or their supervisor was aware of the information, it may similarly be classified as “original information” for the purpose of Program eligibility.
Officers, directors, trustees or partners who were informed of allegations of misconduct or who learned about it through a company’s internal process for reporting or addressing violations may also be eligible for the Program under this 120-day notice carve-out.
Building an Array of Incentives for Reporting
The Program adds another tool to DOJ’s investigatory toolbox as it continues expanding efforts to promote divulging or self-reporting corporate criminal activity.
- The Division has long offered some form of leniency for voluntary disclosure of illegal antitrust activity under its Antitrust Leniency Policy. In its current iteration, qualifying individuals and corporations that disclose violations of Sherman Act §§ 1 or 3(a) can avoid criminal charges and trebling of damages in civil cases. For individual leniency, the activity must be disclosed before an antitrust investigation commences. For corporations, there are separate leniency pathways based on whether self-reporting is done before or after an antitrust investigation begins.
- In April 2024, DOJ’s Criminal Division released a Pilot Program on Voluntary Self-Disclosures for Individuals, whereby an individual could receive a nonprosecution agreement for voluntarily disclosing original information about certain corporate crimes, such as kickbacks or health care fraud in which the individual participated.
- In August 2024, the Justice Department announced its Corporate Whistleblower Awards Pilot Program, which incentivizes individuals to report certain corporate crimes, including violations by financial institutions, fraud and foreign corruption. To receive a whistleblower award, the individual must have had no role in the illegal activity or their role must have been “sufficiently limited” such that they were among “the least culpable of those involved.”
Through the development of each of these policies, DOJ aims to encourage companies and individuals to quickly recognize and report suspected violations.
Takeaways
Employees and other persons now have an increased incentive to pay attention to and report suspected violations directly to the Division. The impact of the newly announced Program remains to be seen, but in the meantime, companies should anticipate increased scrutiny by the Division as it processes a wave of whistleblower submissions.
In light of these developments, companies should consider:
- Routinely educating employees at all levels about the antitrust laws to ensure ongoing compliance.
- Establishing an internal reporting system to encourage early reporting of suspected issues.
- Developing and maintaining anti-retaliation policies for whistleblowers.
- Efficiently investigating claims of illegal behavior as they are made. If illegal activity is uncovered, companies may want to work with legal counsel to determine appropriate next steps, including whether self-reporting is practicable.
- What internal reports have already been made within the organization, recognizing that the information could have already been (or may soon be) disclosed to the Division, including by the organization’s own compliance personnel.
This memorandum is provided by Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and its affiliates for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended and should not be construed as legal advice. This memorandum is considered advertising under applicable state laws.