SEC awards third-highest whistleblower payout

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said Monday it has issued a whistleblower award of more than $20 million in its third-highest award.

The agency said in its statement that the whistleblower had promptly come forward with valuable information that enabled the SEC to move quickly and initiate an enforcement action against wrongdoers before they could “squander” the money.

The names of whistleblowers, and the companies with which they are associated, are not revealed by the agency.

“This whistleblower alerted us with a valuable tip that led to a near total recovery of investor funds,” Jane Norberg, chief of the SEC's Office of the Whistleblower, said in a statement. “Sizeable awards like this one should encourage whistleblowers everywhere that there are real financial incentives to promptly reporting potential securities law violations to the SEC.”

Whistleblower awards can range from 10% to 30% of the money collected when the monetary sanctions are more than $1 million.