SEC Awards Whistleblower Over $20 Million

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By Chris Lange Updated Published
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SEC Awards Whistleblower Over $20 Million

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The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission recently announced that it has given an award of more than $20 million to a whistleblower who promptly came forward with valuable information that enabled the agency to move quickly and initiate an enforcement action against wrongdoers before they could squander the money.

The $20 million award is the third-highest since the SEC’s whistleblower program issued its first award in 2012.

Currently, the program has now awarded more than $130 million to whistleblowers who voluntarily provided the SEC with unique and useful information that led to a successful enforcement action.

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By law, the SEC protects the confidentiality of whistleblowers and does not disclose information that might directly or indirectly reveal a whistleblower’s identity.

Jane Norberg, Chief of the SEC’s Office of the Whistleblower, commented:

This whistleblower alerted us with a valuable tip that led to a near total recovery of investor funds.  Sizeable awards like this one should encourage whistleblowers everywhere that there are real financial incentives to promptly reporting potential securities law violations to the SEC.

These Whistleblower awards can range from 10% to 30% of the money collected when the monetary sanctions exceed $1 million. All payments are made out of an investor protection fund established by Congress that is financed 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.

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Photo of Chris Lange
About the Author Chris Lange →

Chris Lange is a writer for 24/7 Wall St., based in Houston. He has covered financial markets over the past decade with an emphasis on healthcare, tech, and IPOs. During this time, he has published thousands of articles with insightful analysis across these complex fields. Currently, Lange's focus is on military and geopolitical topics.

Lange's work has been quoted or mentioned in Forbes, The New York Times, Business Insider, USA Today, MSN, Yahoo, The Verge, Vice, The Intelligencer, Quartz, Nasdaq, The Motley Fool, Fox Business, International Business Times, The Street, Seeking Alpha, Barron’s, Benzinga, and many other major publications.

A graduate of Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, Lange majored in business with a particular focus on investments. He has previous experience in the banking industry and startups.

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