A whistleblower who helped regulators make sense of misconduct is getting a US$10 million award from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
The SEC said a tipster who provided both the initial information that led to an investigation and ongoing assistance to the regulator’s staff will receive a payout of over US$10 million.
“In more than a dozen communications with the staff, the whistleblower provided key evidence, helped decipher communications and distilled complex issues,” the SEC said.
The details of whistleblower cases are kept confidential to protect the identity of tipsters.
In this case, the SEC said the whistleblower first reported the misconduct internally, and after not receiving an adequate response from internal reporting, they tipped off the agency “and played a critical role during the investigation,” said Jane Norberg, chief of the SEC’s Office of the Whistleblower.
The SEC has now awarded approximately US$687 million to 109 whistleblowers since its first award in 2012.