The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is giving a $17 million award to a former company employee who gave information that helped advance an agency investigation.
“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,” SEC enforcement chief Andrew Ceresney said in a statement Thursday announcing the award, the second-biggest ever in the agency’s five-year-old whistle-blower program.
Whistle-blowers are eligible for an award if they voluntarily provide the SEC with unique information that leads to a successful enforcement action. The awards can range from 10 to 30 percent of the money collected on sanctions beyond $1 million.
Jordan Thomas, chair of the Whistleblower Representation Practice at law firm Labaton Sucharow, said that his client is the only whistle-blower who got an award and that the case involved “a major player in the financial-services industry.”
“Each significant monetary award raises the profile of the SEC whistle-blower program and the number of people willing to come forth,” Thomas said. “It’s a good day for the program. It rewarded someone for having the courage to speak up.”
By law, the SEC doesn’t reveal the identity of the whistle-blowers. The agency issued a $30 million award -- the largest ever -- in September 2014. So far this month, the regulator has announced awards totaling more than $26 million to five individuals. The program, which started in 2011, has awarded more than $85 million to 32 whistle-blowers, the SEC said.