U.S. derivatives regulator the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced it is paying a seven-figure reward to a whistleblower who provided it with market data analysis that led to enforcement action.
The CFTC said that it is paying more than US$2 million to an individual whistleblower who provided “critical information through independent analysis of market data”, which led to both a CFTC enforcement action and a related action that was brought by another federal regulator.
Apart from detailing the unusual basis for the award, the CFTC doesn’t provide any details of the enforcement case that came out of the whistleblower tip — a policy intended to protect the identity of the tipster.
“Today’s award illustrates two key aspects of our whistleblower program — that an individual doesn’t have to be an insider to receive a whistleblower award and the commission can pay awards based on related actions brought by other regulators,” said Christopher Ehrman, director of the CFTC’s whistleblower office.
“I expect more awards to be issued to whistleblowers who provide our enforcement division with information based on their expert analysis of market data and to whistleblowers based on related actions,” Ehrman added.
With this latest payout, the CFTC reports that it has awarded now more than US$85 million to whistleblowers, since it paid its first award in 2014.
Last week, the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) became the first Canadian regulator to pay a financial reward to a whistleblower. It announced that it has paid $7.5 million to three tipsters in separate cases.