Whistleblower Receives Over $900,000 Award from SEC

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that it has awarded a whistleblower with more than $900,000 for the identification of securities law violations occurring overseas.

The regulator stated that the whistleblower's timely and important information resulted in a significant expansion of an ongoing investigation.

Jane Norberg, Chief of the SEC's Office of the Whistleblower said:”Today's award underscores the significance of the SEC whistleblower program's global reach. The agency has received whistleblower tips from individuals in 130 countries. Overseas whistleblowers are in a unique position to help identify wrongdoing occurring abroad that may otherwise be hard to detect."

To be eligible for award, a whistleblower needs to voluntarily provide the commission with reliable information that leads to successful enforcement action. The awards range between 10 and 30 % of the money collected by SEC when the sanction is for more than $1 million.

So far, the SEC has awarded more than $721 million to 114 individuals since issuing its first award in 2012. 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.

As set forth in the Dodd-Frank Act, the SEC protects the confidentiality of whistleblowers and does not disclose information that could reveal a whistleblower's identity.