SEC Awards Whistleblower Over $20 Million

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission recently announced that it has given an award of more than $20 million to a whistleblower who promptly came forward with valuable information that enabled the agency to move quickly and initiate an enforcement…

Published November 15, 2016, 2:58pm ET · 2 min read

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The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission recently announced that it has given an award of more than $20 million to a whistleblower who promptly came forward with valuable information that enabled the agency to move quickly and initiate an enforcement action against wrongdoers before they could squander the money.

The $20 million award is the third-highest since the SEC’s whistleblower program issued its first award in 2012.

Currently, the program has now awarded more than $130 million to whistleblowers who voluntarily provided the SEC with unique and useful information that led to a successful enforcement action.

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By law, the SEC protects the confidentiality of whistleblowers and does not disclose information that might directly or indirectly reveal a whistleblower’s identity.

Jane Norberg, Chief of the SEC’s Office of the Whistleblower, commented:

This whistleblower alerted us with a valuable tip that led to a near total recovery of investor funds.  Sizeable awards like this one should encourage whistleblowers everywhere that there are real financial incentives to promptly reporting potential securities law violations to the SEC.

These Whistleblower awards can range from 10% to 30% of the money collected when the monetary sanctions exceed $1 million. All payments are made out of an investor protection fund established by Congress that is financed through monetary sanctions paid to the SEC by securities law violators.  No money has been taken or withheld from harmed investors to pay whistleblower awards.

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Chris Lange

Chris Lange is a financial and geopolitical writer with more than a decade of experience covering a myriad of topics. He has published thousands of articles for 24/7 Wall St., with past coverage focused heavily on stocks, IPOs, healthcare, defense, global affairs, and technology.

His work has been quoted, or referenced by a number of outlets including Business Insider, USA Today, Yahoo Finance, MSN, The Motley Fool, and many other publications. A graduate of Southwestern University, he studied business with a focus on investments and has previous experience in banking and startups.

When not reading or writing the news, he is following his passion for Lacrosse, playing chess, or building solar projects with his dad.

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