SEC gives whistleblower $4.1M

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced a whistleblower award of more than $4.1 million.

The anonymous award when to a company insider who brought a multi-year securities law violation to the commission’s attention, and worked with the SEC during its investigation.

“Company insiders often have valuable information that can help the SEC halt an ongoing securities law violation and better protect investors,” said Jane Norberg, chief of the SEC’s Office of the Whistleblower, in a statement. “The breadth of the SEC’s whistleblower program is demonstrated by this case, where the whistleblower, a foreign national working outside of the United States, affirmatively stepped forward to shine a light on the wrongdoing.”

This was the third whistleblower award in a week, though the SEC did not provide details on the other two awards.

Since the whistleblower program was launched in 2012, it has given out over $179 million to 50 whistleblowers. Money for the awards comes from sanctions levied against those who violate securities laws, and the awards range from 10 percent to 30 percent of the money collected, when sanctions in the case exceed $1 million.

For information on the whistleblower program, including how to report a tip, visit www.sec.gov/whistleblower.

Number of whistleblower tips received by the SEC

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