The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) revealed it has issued whistleblower awards in total of more than $4 million.
The regulator noted that the four whistleblowers who received the monetary awards provided information and assistance in two separate enforcement proceedings.
One individual received over $2 million from the Commission for providing valuable information that resulted in an investigation, as well as ongoing assistance that included participating in multiple interviews and identifying key individuals and entities.
The SEC also awarded over $150,000 to another whistleblower, who gave information that prompted SEC staff to expand its investigation into other alleged conduct at the relevant company.
The SEC also issued a more than $1.1 million award to an individual who reported misconduct internally and was the first to alert the SEC to the violations. Another whistleblower received over $500,000 for important information.
Emily Pasquinelli, Acting Chief of the SEC’s Office of the Whistleblower said:
Today’s awards underscore the important role that whistleblowers play in detecting and halting securities laws violations. Each of the whistleblowers provided high-quality information that made an important contribution to the success of the underlying enforcement action.
So far, the agency has awarded over $946 million to a total of 190 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 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.
A whistleblower recently received more than $1 million from SEC for providing information and assistance that led to SEC enforcement action.
Earlier in July, the SEC settled charges against the operator of Coinschedule.com, a website that profiled offerings of digital asset securities.
