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The SEC awarded more than $22 million to a whistleblower "whose detailed tip and extensive assistance helped the agency halt a well-hidden fraud at the company where the whistleblower worked." The SEC announced that this is the second-largest award given to a whistleblower, the largest being a $30 million award bestowed in 2014. The SEC emphasized that the whistleblower program now has "surpassed $100 million in total money awarded," and that "[m]ore than $107 million has been awarded to 33 whistleblowers who became eligible . . . by voluntarily providing the SEC with original and useful information" that led to successful enforcement actions.
SEC Office of the Whistleblower Acting Chief Jane Norberg paid tribute to the level of cooperation represented by the landmark sum:
This is a watershed moment for the SEC's whistleblower program. The SEC has issued more than $100 million in whistleblower awards in five years, demonstrating the invaluable information and assistance whistleblowers have provided to the agency and underscoring the program's resounding success.
Commentary / Steven Lofchie
A more valuable statistic for regulators to report might be how many "voluntary" whistleblowers attempted to raise red flags internally before going to the government. An announcement bragging about rewarding employees who may or may not make an effort to resolve problems internally first could send the wrong message and may create the wrong incentives. Isn't it possible that bestowing money on employees who refrain from addressing problems within their firms encourages them to remain silent in the hope that small violations may grow large enough to generate bounties?
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