Whistleblowers can play in a big role in uncovering financial misconduct. For example, look at Sherron Watkins, formerly of Enron, and Cynthia Cooper, formerly of WorldCom. Both women helped uncover massive frauds inside their organizations that ultimately cost investors billions of dollars.

Research suggests that employees are often in a position to discover and expose wrongdoing in organizations. This may be why the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act encourages employee whistleblowing: Section 922 of the Act promises to protect whistleblowers from retaliation and offers monetary awards for disclosure, which range from 10% to 30% of monetary damages collected from the company. Since this program was established, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has granted more than $111 million in awards to 34 whistleblowers, with the largest award of $30 million granted in September 2014. READ MORE