US CFTC Grants Its Biggest Award to a Single Whistleblower to Date

US CFTC Grants Its Biggest Award to a Single Whistleblower to Date

The whistleblower collaborated with critical information that led to successful enforcement actions in two cases.

The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) granted its biggest award to date to a single whistleblower of nearly $200 million. According to the press release, the individual contributed ‘significantly’ with critical information that led to a successful enforcement action of two related cases by a US federal regulator and a foreign one.

In fact, the whistleblower provided information that proved wrongdoing in an investigation launched by the CFTC. “The whistleblower‘s claim in connection with a third related action by a state regulator was denied because the whistleblower’s information was never shared with the state regulator,” the authority clarified.

With the award given to the whistleblower, the CFTC has issued sanctions of over $3 billion to companies that had committed wrongdoings or failed to be compliant with regulatory rulings. The CFTC Whistleblower Program was created under Section 748 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010.

Since 2014, the CFTC has granted over $300 million in awards to whistleblowers, making this a significant award given to an individual as part of the program. In addition, according to the law, whistleblowers are eligible for 10 to 30 percent of the sanctions collected.

US SEC Whistleblower Award Program

In September, a total of $11.5 million was awarded by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to two whistleblowers who provided critical information in investigations conducted by the watchdog. The assistance enabled the watchdog to enforce its regulations successfully. In one instance, the SEC granted over $7 million to the whistleblower, while the second whistleblower received over $4.5 million.

In fact, the whistleblower who received the highest award played an important role in the investigation because they were the one that led the SEC to open an investigation into violations of the rulings. Over the past two years, the SEC has awarded $2 billion to 212 whistleblowers.