An unnamed whistleblower is nearly US$50 million richer thanks to a record-setting tip to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
The SEC announced the highest-ever award paid to an individual under its whistleblower program, which pays for tips that lead to successful enforcement actions. Tipsters can receive between 10% and 30% of the money recovered by the SEC.
The payout of nearly US$50 million surpassed the previous record of US$39 million, which was awarded in 2018.
The SEC also paid out almost US$50 million in a single case in 2018, but that award was shared between two tipsters.
This year’s record-setting award was related to a tip involving “detailed, firsthand observations of misconduct by a company, which resulted in a successful enforcement action that returned a significant amount of money to harmed investors,” the SEC said.
The details of these cases are not revealed in order to protect the anonymity of whistleblowers.
“This award is the largest individual whistleblower award announced by the SEC since the inception of the program, and brings the total awarded to whistleblowers by the SEC to over US$500 million, including over US$100 million in this fiscal year alone,” said Jane Norberg, chief of the SEC’s Office of the Whistleblower, in a statement.