On April 20, 2020 the SEC announced a $5 million award to a whistleblower who provided significant information that led to a successful enforcement action. The whistleblower provided critical evidence of wrongdoing, which saved the SEC a significant amount of time and resources. Additionally, the SEC noted that the informant suffered a unique hardship as a result of raising concerns internally.
The SEC has awarded approximately $430 million to 80 individuals since issuing its first award in 2012. According to the CEO of the SEC’s Office of the Whistleblower, “The whistleblower award today is the seventh award the SEC has announced to individual whistleblowers in the last month.” “These awards demonstrate the valuable contributions whistleblowers make to the protection of markets and investors and we encourage people to move forward with information about possible securities law violations.”
All payments through this program are made from an investor protection fund established by Congress that is financed entirely through monetary sanctions paid to the SEC by securities law violators. The Commission emphasizes, that no money has been taken or withheld from harmed investors to pay whistleblower awards. The informant’s award is based on a percentage of the money collected in fees and sanctions paid by the violators they uncovered, and if they provided the SEC with original, timely, and credible information that leads to a successful enforcement action. Whistleblower awards can range from 10% to 30% of the money collected when the monetary sanctions exceed $1 million.
As set forth in the Dodd-Frank Act, the SEC protects the confidentiality of whistleblowers and does not discloses information that could reveal a whistleblower’s identity. If you believe you have information of a material nature that would be helpful to the SEC’s mission, David A. Weintraub, P.A. may be able to represent you in connection with your whistleblower claim.