SEC Makes Its Second-Largest Whistleblower Award in the Program’s History
The SEC has topped a string of recent whistleblower awards with a $17 million award —its second-largest ever — to “a former company employee whose detailed tip substantially advanced the agency’s investigation and ultimate enforcement action.”
This award is second-in-size only to a $30 million award made by the SEC in September 2014. It displaces as the second-largest award, a $14 million award made in October 2013. With this award, the SEC has now awarded more than $85 million to 32 whistleblowers. In the past month alone, the SEC has made awards or more than $26 million.
The award and the SEC’s corresponding order, recognize the substantial contribution of the whistleblower to the SEC’s work in pursuing the covered action. The SEC’s order determining the award, and denying awards to four other claimants, noted that the whistleblower “submitted a detailed tip” and “provided additional information of which Enforcement staff were previously unaware that substantially advanced their investigation.” The whistleblower’s prompt reporting “allowed Enforcement staff to conserve time and resources in the investigation, and helped staff to gather evidence supporting the Commission’s charges.”
Tagged in: SEC Whistleblower Reward Program,