TheCFO of a listed NYSEcompanyis required to certify financial statement reliability per the Sarbanes Oxley Act... assuming these statements are in fact reliable. Signing off on these statements is a criminal offense equivalent to perjury. Joe CFO feels the company's internal controls are not reliable but is pressured to sign off on them anyway.

If Joe CFO signs off on these statements he gets to keep his job and his stock price will increase. If however, he refuses he will lose his job and the stock price will decrease.

Joe CFOwrote the company's Audit Committee and Board of Directorsoutliningthreeareas where internal controls were materially weak. Joe also stated he could not sign off on the financial statements until these weaknesses were addressed.He was promptly escorted from the building, fired. The stock dropped 30% immediately.

Joe CFO subsequently files a whistleblower lawsuit and finds that the company has severely "slandered" his name, questioning his motivations. Essentially accusing him of blackmail, and of course the company claims that the internal controls were adequate.

Answer the following using your textbook.Cite the page number.(20points)

a.DoesJoe CFOqualify as a whistleblower under federal securities law?

b.IfJoe CFOhad signed the company's SEC filing despite knowing that there were substantial internal control weaknesses,what would be the potential penalties?

c.DoesJoe CFOqualify foranti-retaliation protections under federal securities law?