SEC awards whistleblowers with over $3.6 Million and $750K

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced two separate whistleblower awards in the amount of $4.3 million.

The Commission awarded a whistleblower with more than $3.6 million for providing important information that alerted the SEC to misconduct occurring abroad. The whistleblower provided substantial and ongoing assistance to enforcement staff, which included traveling to another country at the whistleblower’s own expense to meet with staff in person and providing extensive supporting documentation.

The second whistleblower was awarded $750,000for providing significant information that led the Commission to uncover an ongoing fraud. The whistleblower assisted the SEC staff by meeting with them in person and explaining the likely mechanics of the fraudulent scheme.

Jane Norberg, Chief of the SEC’s Office of the Whistleblower said:

Whistleblowers play an important role in helping to identify misconduct, and the assistance they provide can be integral to an investigation. Both whistleblowers who received awards today reflect these important contributions whistleblowers can make to the success of enforcement actions.

Whistleblower

So far, the agency has awarded over $719 million to total of 112 individuals since the first award was issued in 2012. Payment of the awards is taken out of an investor protection fund set up by Congress. It is financed through monetary sanctions of security law violations paid to SEC.

To be eligible for award, a whistleblower needs to voluntarily provide the commission with reliable information that leads to successful enforcement action. The awards range between 10 and 30 % of the money collected by SEC when the sanction is for more than $1 million.

According to the Dodd-Frank Act, SEC must protect the identity of the whistleblower and not disclose any information that could reveal it.


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