SEC Awards More Than $5 Million to Whistleblower
SEC Awards More Than $5 Million to Whistleblower
On May 17, 2016 Securities and Exchange Commission announced that it will award between $5 million and $6 million to a former company insider whose detailed tip led the agency to uncover securities violations that would have been nearly impossible for it to detect but for the whistleblower’s information.
This award is the SEC’s third highest to a whistleblower. In September 2014, the agency announced a more than $30 million whistleblower award, exceeding the prior highest award of more than $14 million announced in October 2013. Since the inception of the whistleblower program in 2011, the SEC has awarded more than $67 million to 29 whistleblowers, including one for more than $3.5 million announced last week.
By law, the SEC protects the confidentiality of whistleblowers and does not disclose information that might directly or indirectly reveal a whistleblower’s identity.
Whistleblowers may be eligible for an award when they voluntarily provide the SEC with unique and useful information that leads to a successful enforcement action.
Whistleblower awards can range from 10 percent to 30 percent 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.
Read the SEC Press Releases here:
https://www.sec.gov/news/pressrelease/2016-91.html
https://www.sec.gov/News/PressRelease/Detail/PressRelease/1370543011290
https://www.sec.gov/News/PressRelease/Detail/PressRelease/1370539854258
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