The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has paid its largest ever award to a whistleblower, nearly $279 million, the regulator announced on Friday.
The award is more than double the previous record amount of $114 million, announced in October 2020.
In a heavily edited SEC In an order dated May 5, the agency did not name the person to whom the reward was paid, nor say what enforcement actions led to the payment, a policy designed to protect whistleblowers who want to remain anonymous.
“Prolonged whistleblower assistance, including multiple interviews and written submissions, was critical to the success of these actions,” said Nicole Creola Kelly, SEC whistleblower chief. “Although the whistleblower’s information did not prompt the opening of the SEC investigation, their information broadened the scope of the alleged misconduct.”
The SEC order said two other people came forward with suggestions related to the enforcement actions, but the agency did not pay them. Any of those people’s information “did not advance or affect the investigation,” the SEC said. Another person’s allegations were “vague” and “lack of substance.”
Established as part of the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010, the SEC’s whistleblower bureau is designed to encourage individuals with information about financial misconduct to help the agency bring cases.
To get paid, whistleblowers must provide information leading to an SEC enforcement case of more than $1 million. Whistleblowers can be paid between 10% and 30% of the total fines collected.
The SEC said it has paid out more than $1 billion since the program began in 2011.
“The size of today’s award — the largest in our program’s history — not only incentivizes whistleblowers to come forward with accurate information about potential securities law violations, but also reflects the tremendous success of our whistleblower program,” said Gurbir Grewal, head of the SEC’s executive division.
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