Today, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued two whistleblower awards totaling $114 million. With the awards, the agency has now awarded over $1 billion to whistleblowers through its whistleblower program.
“Today is a great day for whistleblowers,” said whistleblower attorney Stephen M. Kohn, founding partner of Kohn, Kohn & Colapinto and Chairman of the Board of the National Whistleblower Center. “The Dodd-Frank Act whistleblower law is sending a message to Wall Street crooks: if you commit fraud you will be caught.”
”Today's announcement underscores the important role that whistleblowers play in helping the SEC detect, investigate, and prosecute potential violations of the securities laws,“ said SEC Chair Gary Gensler. ”The assistance that whistleblowers provide is crucial to the SEC's ability to enforce the rules of the road for our capital markets."
The two awards were for $110 million and $4 million respectively. The whistleblower who received the $110 million awarded provided the SEC with significant independent analysis of public information which greatly aided in the SEC's investigation. The award consists of a $40 million award for an SEC enforcement action as well as approximately $70 million in related action awards.
The second whistleblower, who received the $4 million award, provided the SEC with original information that contributed to the success of the SEC enforcement action but not the related actions carried out by another agency. The information disclosed by this whistleblower was provided to the SEC late in the investigative process and was also much more limited compared to the first whistleblower's disclosure.
Through the SEC Whistleblower Program, qualified whistleblowers, individuals who voluntarily provide the SEC original information that leads to a successful enforcement action, are entitled to a monetary award of 10-30% of funds recovered in the action. Since issuing its first award in 2012, the SEC has awarded $1,074,010,519 to 207 individuals.
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