On Friday, the Securities and Exchange Commission offered an award of more than US$900,000 to a whistleblower whose tip enabled the SEC to bring multiple enforcement actions against wrongdoers.
“With the issuance of this second award in less than one week, we hope to continue to encourage individuals to submit high-quality tips that we can leverage to enforce the law and protect investors […],” said Jane Norberg, chief of the SEC’s Office of the Whistleblower (the first award of last week was for US$3.5 million).
Read: How to blow the whistle
More than US$136 million has been awarded to 37 whistleblowers who voluntarily provided the SEC with original and useful information that led to a successful enforcement action.
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% to 30% of the money collected when the monetary sanctions exceed US$1 million. 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.