The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued its second multi-million dollar whistleblower award in as many weeks.
The SEC announced Tuesday it will pay between US$5 million and US$6 million to a company insider who provided a detailed tip that enabled it to uncover securities violations that “would have been nearly impossible” for the SEC to uncover on its own.
The commission doesn’t provide specific details on whistleblower cases in order to protect the anonymity of the tipsters.
“Employees are often best positioned to witness wrongdoing,” says Andrew Ceresney, director of the SEC’s division of enforcement, in a statement announcing the award. “When they report specific and credible tips to us, we will leverage that inside knowledge to advance our enforcement of the securities laws and better protect investors and the marketplace.”
This latest award is the third highest amount that the SEC has paid to a whistleblower. Overall, the U.S. regulator has now awarded more than US$67 million to 29 whistleblowers since the program was introduced in 2011.
“The whistleblower program has seen tremendous growth since its inception and we anticipate the continued issuance of significant whistleblower awards in the months and years to come,” adds Sean McKessy, chief of the SEC’s Office of the Whistleblower.
Later this year, the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) is expected to launch Canada’s first whistleblower program that pays awards for tips that lead to significant securities enforcement action.