The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently announced a whistle-blower award of over $17 million to a former company employee whose detailed tip substantially advanced the agency’s investigation and ultimate enforcement action.
Note that the SEC protects the confidentiality of whistle-blowers by law, as well as not disclosing information that might directly or indirectly reveal a whistle-blower’s identity.
This award is the second-largest issued by the agency since the inception of the whistle-blower program nearly five years ago. The SEC issued comparable rewards with a $30 million award in September 2014 and a $14 million award in October 2013.
The SEC’s whistle-blower program has now awarded over $85 million to 32 whistle-blowers since the program’s inception in 2011. Whistle-blowers may be eligible for an award when they voluntarily provide the SEC with unique and useful information that leads to a successful enforcement action. Whistle-blower awards can range from 10% to 30% of the money collected when the monetary sanctions exceed $1 million.
Andrew Ceresney, director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement, commented:
Company insiders are uniquely positioned to protect investors and blow the whistle on a company’s wrongdoing by providing key information to the SEC so we can investigate the full extent of the violations. The information and assistance provided by this whistleblower enabled our enforcement staff to conserve time and resources and gather strong evidence supporting our case.
Sean X. McKessy, chief of the SEC’s Office of the Whistleblower, added:
In the past month, five whistleblowers have received a total of more than $26 million, and we hope these substantial awards encourage other individuals with knowledge of potential federal securities law violations to make the right choice to come forward and report the wrongdoing to the SEC.
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