The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced on Monday that it had awarded around $5.3 million to whistleblowers who have assisted them by providing information regarding enforcement proceedings. According to the press release, a whistleblower pocketed almost $4 million for sending sensitive information that allowed the watchdog to succeed in an enforcement action.
In fact, the person participated in hours of telephonic interviews, plus had constant communication with the SEC’s investigative team and provided them with documents related to the case. In a second case, three whistleblowers were awarded around $1.3 million who helped open an investigation.
“These whistleblowers provided critical information that alerted Commission staff of the violations. Their information and continuing assistance played a key role in the successful resolution of the actions,” Emily Pasquinelli, Acting Chief of the SEC’s Office of the Whistleblower, commented.
Whistleblower Rewards Stats
So far, the US SEC has awarded approximately $937 million to 178 individuals who had assisted them with several investigations since 2012, according to the statistics provided by the watchdog. “All Payments are made out of an investor protection fund established by Congress that is financed entirely through monetary sanctions paid to the SEC by securities law violators. No money has been taken or withheld from harmed investors to pay whistleblower awards. Whistleblowers may be eligible for an award when they voluntarily provide the SEC with original timely and credible information that Leads to a successful enforcement action,” the SEC clarified about the origin of the funds, whose whistleblower program goes accordingly with the Dodd-Frank Act.
Early this year, the tip-off from an insider led the US SEC to bust a financial fraud, which concluded with the return of 'a large amount of money' to the victims. The whistleblower received over $9.2 million for the information provided to the financial authority.
