WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) – The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that it has awarded a $17 million whistle-blower award to a former company employee that significantly helped an SEC case.
The award is the second largest in the five-year history of the whistle-blower program. The program has awarded more than $85 million to 32 whistle-blowers since 2011 when the program began.
“Company insiders are uniquely positioned to protect investors and blow the whistle on a company’s wrongdoing by providing key information to the SEC so we can investigate the full extent of the violations,” Andrew Ceresney, director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement, said. “The information and assistance provided by this whistle-blower enabled our enforcement staff to conserve time and resources and gather strong evidence supporting our case.”
The SEC maintains secrecy regarding the identity of the whistle-blowers and does not ever disclose information that could reveal their identities.
“In the past month, five whistle-blowers have received a total of more than $26 million, and we hope these substantial awards encourage other individuals with knowledge of potential federal securities law violations to make the right choice to come forward and report the wrongdoing to the SEC,” Sean X. McKessy, chief of the SEC’s Office of the Whistleblower, said.
The award is the second largest in the five-year history of the whistle-blower program. The program has awarded more than $85 million to 32 whistle-blowers since 2011 when the program began.
“Company insiders are uniquely positioned to protect investors and blow the whistle on a company’s wrongdoing by providing key information to the SEC so we can investigate the full extent of the violations,” Andrew Ceresney, director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement, said. “The information and assistance provided by this whistle-blower enabled our enforcement staff to conserve time and resources and gather strong evidence supporting our case.”
The SEC maintains secrecy regarding the identity of the whistle-blowers and does not ever disclose information that could reveal their identities.
“In the past month, five whistle-blowers have received a total of more than $26 million, and we hope these substantial awards encourage other individuals with knowledge of potential federal securities law violations to make the right choice to come forward and report the wrongdoing to the SEC,” Sean X. McKessy, chief of the SEC’s Office of the Whistleblower, said.