Big Awards For SEC Whistleblowers

A whistleblower “whose information led to multiple successful enforcement actions” received a $2.1 million award on April 12. The SEC is required to protect the confidentiality of whistleblowers, but the person, described as “a former company insider,” provided information that strongly supported findings in the underlying action, and provided assistance to the SEC during the investigation. The amount was upheld even though the claimant’s ten month delay in reporting the wrongdoing was “negatively assessed” by the claims review staff. Awards can range from 10 to 30 percent of the money collected when sanctions are more than $1 million. In mid March the SEC awarded three whistleblowers $83 million. During the first week of April there was an award of $2 million-plus. Awards are paid out of penalties the SEC collects from securities law violators. On April 12, Jane Norberg, chief of the SEC’s Office of the Whistleblower, said: “The SEC has issued nearly $90 million in whistleblower awards in the past month alone.”