By Christopher Regan, Thomas Sporkin, Timothy Coley and Ian Acker ( April 30, 2018, 11:24 AM EDT) -- Eight years ago, the big debate between corporate America and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission was whether whistleblowers should be required to report internally before being eligible for awards and protections under Dodd-Frank's anti-retaliation provisions. Ultimately, the SEC decided that the statute unambiguously prevented such an internal reporting rule; however, in an effort to mollify corporate America, the SEC, on its own, devised a few rules that it believed public companies could leverage to incentivize internal reporting (including bumping up the percentages for internal whistleblower awards and saving whistleblowers' place in line at the SEC if they followed internal reporting protocols)....