SEC Awards $450,000 to Whistleblower

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced an award of $450,000 to a whistleblower whose significant information helped focus an ongoing investigation on the violations that were ultimately charged. The whistleblower, who had compliance-related responsibilities, is eligible for an award because the whistleblower reported concerns about the relevant conduct internally within the company and then waited 120 days before reporting to the SEC. This is the SEC’s third whistleblower award to an individual who had compliance or internal audit responsibilities. “To ensure that important information about securities laws violations is reported to the SEC when appropriate corrective action is not taken by the company, the rules permit awards to compliance professionals in certain limited circumstances,” said Jane Norberg, Chief of the SEC’s Office of the Whistleblower.