Articles Tagged with SEC Whistleblower

The US Securities and Exchange Commission has awarded almost $4M to an individual who gave the regulator specific details regarding “serious misconduct” and provided help, including “specialized” expertise and knowledge, during the agency’s probe into the allegations. In its release announcing the award, the SEC did not provided more details about the case because to do so might give away the identity of the whistleblower, which it always seeks to protect.

Since the SEC Whistleblower Program was established in 2011, the agency has awarded 43 individuals about $153M for voluntarily giving the agency useful and original information that ended up rendering a successful enforcement action Already, such actions stemming from whistleblower-provided information has resulted in over $953M in financial remedies imposed against those found to be have engaged in misconduct or other wrongdoing. Whistleblowers can be awarded anywhere from 10-30% of the money collected if that sum is $1M or greater.

As we mentioned, typically the identities of SEC whistleblowers are kept confidential. One of the reasons for this is so that the whistleblower is protected from professional or financial retaliation, especially if the individual blew the whistle on an employer.