SEC awards record $114M to whistleblower

By Danielle Lee for AccountingToday.com

The Securities and Exchange Commission awarded a record more than $114 million to a whistleblower that helped lead to the successful enforcement of SEC and related actions.

The award — comprised of an approximately $52 million award in connection with the SEC case and about $62 million resulting from related actions by another agency — marks the highest award in the whistleblower program’s history. The combined $114 million, given to an unidentified whistleblower per the SEC's confidentiality rules, surpasses the next highest award of $50 million, given to an individual in June 2020.

In total, the SEC has awarded approximately $676 million to 108 individuals since issuing its first award in 2012.

“Today’s milestone award is a testament to the Commission’s commitment to award whistleblowers who provide the agency with high-quality information,” said SEC Chairman Jay Clayton in a statement. “Whistleblowers make important contributions to the enforcement of securities laws and we are committed to getting more money to whistleblowers as quickly and as efficiently as possible.”

All payments through the whistleblower program are made out of an investor protection fund established by Congress that is financed entirely through monetary sanctions paid to the SEC by securities law violators. Awards are only given to whistleblowers who voluntarily provide the SEC with original, timely and credible information that leads to a successful enforcement action and can range from 10 to 30 percent of the money collected when the monetary sanctions exceed $1 million.

“The actions of the whistleblower awarded today were extraordinary,” said Jane Norberg, chief of the SEC’s Office of the Whistleblower, in a statement. “After repeatedly reporting concerns internally, and despite personal and professional hardships, the whistleblower alerted the SEC and the other agency of the wrongdoing and provided substantial, ongoing assistance that proved critical to the success of the actions.”