The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) revealed it has awarded a whistleblower with over $37 million.
The whistleblower provided the regulator with information which led to a successful enforcement action and a related action.
Additionally, SEC highlighted that the whistleblower was its initial source of the company’s internal investigation. Moreover, he was the source of investigations of the Commission, as well as another agency.
SEC noted that the company did report the alleged conduct, however is awarded because they provided the same information to the SEC within 120 days of providing it internally.
Creola Kelly, Acting Chief of the SEC’s Office of the Whistleblower said:
The whistleblower here made persistent efforts to bring the conduct to the attention of the SEC, another agency, and the company and is credited with the results of the company’s internal investigation.
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 the 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.
Earlier in December, the regulator awarded a whistleblower with more than $20 million.
