SEC Awards More Than $2.2 Million to Whistleblower Who First Reported Information to Another Federal Agency Before SEC

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced a whistleblower award of more than $2.2 million to a former company insider whose tips helped the agency open an investigation that led to an enforcement action. The whistleblower first reported the information to another federal agency and later provided the same information to the SEC. This is the first award paid under the “safe harbor” of Exchange Act Rule 21F-4(b)(7), which provides that if a whistleblower submits information to another federal agency and submits the same information to the SEC within 120 days, then the SEC will treat the information as though it had been submitted to the SEC at the same time that it was submitted to the other agency. The whistleblower voluntarily reported information to a federal agency covered by the rule, which referred the matter to the SEC.