The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has outlined the awarding of its largest whistleblower allotment totaling nearly $279 million.
The individual provided information and assistance resulting in the successful enforcement of SEC and related actions. The highest award in the SEC’s whistleblower program’s history exceeds the $114 million whistleblower award the SEC issued in October 2020.
SEC’s Division of Enforcement Director Gurbir S. Grewal said the size of the agency’s highest whistleblower award in the program’s history incentivizes whistleblowers to come forward with accurate information about potential securities law violations and reflects the whistleblower program’s success.
“This success directly benefits investors, as whistleblower tips have contributed to enforcement actions resulting in orders requiring bad actors to disgorge more than $4 billion in ill-gotten gains and interest,” Grewal said. “As this award shows, there is a significant incentive for whistleblowers to come forward with accurate information about potential securities law violations.”
According to the SEC, whistleblowers awards are made out of an investor protection fund established by Congress and financed through monetary sanctions paid to the SEC by securities law violators.
No money is taken or withheld from harmed investors to pay whistleblower awards, the SEC noted, and whistleblowers, whose identity remains anonymous via the Dodd-Frank Act, may be eligible for an award when they voluntarily provide the agency with original, timely, and credible information leading to a successful enforcement action while adhering to filing requirements in the whistleblower rules.
“The whistleblower’s sustained assistance, including multiple interviews and written submissions, was critical to the success of these actions,” said Creola Kelly, chief of the SEC’s Office of the Whistleblower. “While the whistleblower’s information did not prompt the opening of the Commission’s investigation, their information expanded the scope of misconduct charged.”