Whistleblower
Advocates
Award Winning Attorneys
SEC WHISTLEBLOWER PROGRAM
SEC Whistleblower Awards to Date
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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| 1.6M | 4/22/2015 | A whistleblower, who was a compliance professional, provided information and assistance to the SEC. He/she reported when there was a reasonable basis to believe that disclosure to the SEC was necessary to prevent imminent misconduct from causing substantial financial harm to the company or investors and senior management failed to take steps to stop it. |
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| 1.6M | 12/22/2020 | At its own initiative, the SEC departed from the recommendation of its Claims Review Staff and apparently increased this award. The regulator emphasized the value of Claimant’s information and the perceived risk to his/her personal safety in reporting it. |
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| 1.6M | 3/23/2020 | Whistleblower provided valuable information and assistance that led to some of the charges brought in the successful enforcement action. The Staff noted that the whistleblower reported something that would have been difficult for them to detect and the information was provided early in their investigation conserving resources. The award was lowered because of delayed reporting, but not as much as in other cases because some of the delay preceded Dodd-Frank. |
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| 1.5M | 9/14/2018 | Whistleblower provided information and assistance that was critical to the overall success of the enforcement action. The Commission noted that the award was severely reduced because of unreasonable delay in reporting. |
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| 1.5M | 3/09/2021 | Claimant provided multiple written submissions and met with the SEC multiple times, providing information that caused the SEC to open an investigation. Claimant also reported internally. Claimant was denied an additional award, however, based on an action separate from the Covered Action. |
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| 1.27M | 6/21/2021 | One Claimant was awarded over $1 million and two others received a joint award of over $270,000. The latter Claimants objected to their award allocation and treatment as joint Claimants, but the SEC rejected their arguments. |
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| 1.25M | 8/31/2020 | The SEC awarded $1.25 million to a whistleblower whose information initiated an enforcement action that ultimately resulted in millions of dollars returned to harmed investors. |
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| 1.2M | 12/18/2020 | Claimant, although culpable and tardy in reporting, nonetheless provided information that led to a successful enforcement action. The SEC overrode its Claims Review Staff to make this award, which evidently was for less than the maximum allowable percentage. |
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| 1.1M | 11/13/2020 | Claimant received an award for “independent analysis,” by examining and evaluating public materials to provide important insight into possible securities violations that were not apparent from the face of the materials themselves. |
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| 1M | 6/24/2021 | According to the SEC's Order, inter alia, Claimant’s tip - which included information that was not otherwise accessible to SEC staff - led to the opening of the agency's investigation and was the basis for the charges in the Covered Action. |
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Balance of Investor Protection Fund From Which Awards Are Paid (as of FY2021)
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SEC Whistleblower Awards Paid (As of FY2021)
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Number of SEC whistleblower submissions in FY2021
