SEC awards whistleblower with more than $28 million

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced giving more than $28 million award to a whistleblower who provided significant information that aided the SEC in bringing a successful enforcement action. The whistleblower internally reported information that prompted the company to initiate an internal investigation, and saved the staff time and resources by providing testimony and identifying a key witness.

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

In the past month alone, the Commission has awarded four whistleblowers over $150 million for their important contributions to the Commission’s efforts to detect wrongdoing and protect investors and the marketplace. I hope our recent awards will continue to incentivize whistleblowers to come forward to report potential fraud or other wrongdoing.

Whistleblower

So far, the agency has awarded over $715 million to total of 110 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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