The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced on Tuesday that it’s awarding more than US$4.1 million to a company insider outside the U.S. who blew the whistle on “a widespread, multi-year securities law violation” at his company and provided ongoing assistance to the SEC during the regulator’s investigation.
Although the SEC doesn’t release details of whistleblower cases in order to protect the identity of tipsters, the SEC noted that in this case, in particular, the tip came from outside the U.S. It doesn’t identify the tipster’s country of origin.
“Company insiders often have valuable information that can help the SEC halt an ongoing securities law violation and better protect investors,” says Jane Norberg, chief of the SEC’s Office of the Whistleblower, in a statement. “The breadth of the SEC’s whistleblower program is demonstrated by this case, where the whistleblower, a foreign national working outside of the United States, affirmatively stepped forward to shine a light on the wrongdoing.”
With this latestwhistleblower award, the SEC’s program that pays for information resulting in significant enforcement action has now awarded more than US$179 million to 50 whistleblowers.
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