WASHINGTON — The Justice Department expects to bring criminal charges in the coming months in investigations involving financial institutions, Attorney General Eric Holder said Wednesday as he called for better incentives for Wall Street whistle-blowers who report crime.
Holder did not describe the investigations in a speech at New York University’s law school except to say they involve wrongdoing that has undermined financial markets.
He used the address to urge Congress to raise a cap on the amount of money a whistleblower can receive for reporting misconduct. Such cooperation is essential since financial criminals are often ‘‘savvy enough to avoid using e-mail’’ and witnesses from within the firm may be the only ones who can provide the evidence needed for a conviction, he said. The reward is capped at $1.6 million, what Holder called a ‘‘paltry sum’’ given the amount of money made in the industry.