Established by the Dodd-Frank Act in 2010, the SEC’s bounty program grants eligible whistleblowers 10-30% of monetary sanctions levied by the SEC in an enforcement action where total sanctions exceed $1 million.
In our list of whistleblower bounties granted to date, we do more than just tell you an award amount. We want our clients & friends to know what factors contributed to the tipster’s success, and to provide key documents issued by the SEC for each award. For additional information, learn more about how the SEC whistleblower award process works.
| Amount Awarded | Date | Description | Factors | Key Docs |
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| 50K | 8/21/2012 | First SEC whistleblower award. The individual reported an ongoing multi-million dollar fraud. Due to collection problems, the award percentage was likely increased. |
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| 50K | 6/04/2020 | Whistleblower provided valuable information and assistance to an ongoing investigation and led to a successful enforcement action. The Staff noted that the whistleblower provided first hand knowledge of misconduct unknown to the Staff, provided a road map to the Staff, advanced significant law enforcement interests, and resulted in significant amounts returned to harmed investors. |
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| 45K | 1/22/2020 | Whistleblower was an injured investor, who provided valuable information to an ongoing investigation that resulted in greater efficiency. The Staff emphasized that the whistleblower had provided new, critical, and time-sensitive information that allowed them to recover assets that were later returned to harmed investors and the relatively small award was because of collection problems. |
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| 38K | 9/20/2019 | Whistleblower provided information and assistance that led to two enforcement actions involving retail investors--a Commission priority. The Staff noted that the whistleblower acted quickly to alert the Staff of the misconduct, met with the Staff, provided investigative testimony, and encouraged others to cooperate with the Staff. The Commission noted that the award is relatively low because collections from the defendants of the monetary sanctions were low. |
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| 10K | 6/03/2021 | This award apparently was based on a whistleblower tip leading to a successful enforcement action that was not brought by the SEC. It also appears that collections were low, given the $1 million sanctions threshold and general 10% floor for whistleblower awards. |
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| Not Yet Determined | 7/22/2014 | Whistleblower provided the SEC with information that led to a successful enforcement. No additional information has been disclosed. |
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| Not Yet Determined | 9/28/2015 | Whistleblowers provided information that led to a successful enforcement action. No additional information was disclosed. |
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| Not Yet Determined | 9/29/2015 | Whistleblowers provided information that led to a successful enforcement action. No additional information was disclosed. |
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| Not Yet Determined | 2/28/2017 | The whistleblower provided information that led to a successful enforcement action. The award was subject to an off-set for the Claimant's culpability in connection with the securities law violations at issue in the Covered Action and the Claimant's unreasonable delay in reporting the wrongdoing to the Commission. |
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| Not Yet Determined | 11/20/2020 | Claimant received the maximum-percentage award for his/her tip about an ongoing Ponzi scheme. However, it was not anticipated that any sanctions would be collected. |
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Balance of Investor Protection Fund From Which Awards Are Paid (as of FY2021)
SEC Whistleblower Awards Paid (As of FY2021)
Number of SEC whistleblower submissions in FY2021
