The Washington, D.C.-based U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced on Tuesday it will award approximately US$290,000 to a whistleblower “for providing valuable information” about derivatives laws violations.
The identity of the whistleblower is protected under U.S. law, and the circumstances of the case are not reported to prevent the whistleblower being identified.
This is the second whistleblower award issued by the CFTC. The first award, for US$240,000, was handed out in May 2014. Similar to the whistleblower reward program operated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the CFTC can pay monetary awards of between 10% and 30% of the penalties collected in an enforcement action that generates at least US$1 million in monetary sanctions. The CFTC can also pay awards based on monetary sanctions collected by other authorities in actions that are related to a successful CFTC enforcement action.
“Receiving high quality information from whistleblowers is an essential part of the CFTC’s overall enforcement program. Such information allows the staff to bring cases more quickly and with fewer agency resources, and we will continue to provide financial incentives for people with specific and credible information about violations,” said Aitan Goelman, the director of the CFTC’s division of enforcement, in a statement.
“The Whistleblower Office continues to receive high quality information from whistleblowers on a regular basis. The number of tips, complaints and referrals that we receive continues to grow year over year. We are committed to whistleblowers, and we value the information that they provide,” added Christopher Ehrman, director of the CFTC’s Whistleblower Office.
In Canada, the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) is still considering the possible adoption of its own program that would pay financial incentives to whistleblowers.
See: OSC’s proposed whistleblower program could use tweaking