Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) officials said two whistleblowers have garnered awards totaling $2 million for providing the agency with significant information prompting the CFTC to open an investigation.
“This award demonstrates how whistleblowers can play an integral role in our investigations and be rewarded for their significant contributions,” Christopher Ehrman, director of the CFTC’s Whistleblower Office, said. “It often takes integrity and courage to report specific, timely, and credible information about misconduct, and such information enhances our ability to police the markets.”
The CFTC discovered numerous violations of the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) directly based on whistleblower information – noting multiple interviews and various documents whistleblowers provided proved to be informative and formed the basis of the CFTC’s investigation.
The CFTC has awarded more than $90 million to whistleblowers since the Whistleblower Program was established as part of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010. CFTC actions associated with the awards have resulted in sanctions orders totaling more than $730 million.
The Whistleblower Program also provides whistleblowers with anti-retaliation protections, outlining a process in which a person may not take any action to impede an individual from communicating directly with the CFTC’s staff about a possible violation of the CEA, including by enforcing, or threatening to enforce, a confidentiality agreement or pre-dispute arbitration agreement regarding communications.